“I am so convinced about our project that I am ready to talk about attractive job and site guarantees which I could not consider for EADS,” he told Bild.

He argued a merged company offered the best opportunities for German jobs as it was the only way to secure orders from new markets, such as Asia.

“Either we cut jobs or we embrace new international markets,” Enders told Bild.

EADS employs about 50,000 people in Germany across 29 sites and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to avoid plant closures or major job losses just a year before an election.

POTENTIAL DEALBREAKER

Among the issues under discussion by politicians, executives and shareholders are the planned 60:40 planned merger ratio in favor of EADS and the location of the firm’s headquarters.

But some sources say Germany’s insistence on taking a 9 percent stake in the new firm to match what would be France’s holding is a potential deal breaker.

Analysts say Germany fears being left as a junior partner in a company steered mainly by French and British interests, starving it of future investment and aligning Europe’s defense industry with its two largest military powers.