The FCAS programme, a flagship joint effort to build a next-generation combat aircraft between France, Germany and Spain, has faltered as disagreements persist between France's Dassault Aviation and Airbus.

"We have decided to launch a mission to bring Airbus and Dassault closer together in the coming weeks... to find common ground," the French president told reporters at a EU summit in Brussels.

It comes after Macron and Merz held talks over dinner in the Belgian capital on Wednesday and postponed once more a political decision on the fate of the project, initially due in December.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme was launched in 2017 to replace the Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain.

It is often seen as a bellwether of defence and security cooperation between France and Germany as the two EU powerhouses seek to put up a united front in the face of an aggressive Russia and wavering US security commitment.

But bitter divisions between the rival firms have threatened to scupper it. This month Dassault accused Airbus of torpedoing the project, which Merz had in February signalled Berlin could abandon altogether.

"I strongly believe in this project. I think it is strategically relevant," Macron said Thursday.

The armed forces of France and Germany, as well as the companies involved also believe it important, but the latter "can't reach an agreement," he said.

"Our job is to get them to agree," he said.

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Dassault Aviation

Airbus Group