A
radical management reshuffle at EADS, parent company
of aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie, will see
Frenchman Louis Gallois become sole chief executive
and German Tom Enders, now co-chief executive, move
to head Airbus. This puts an end to the cumbersome
two-headed management structure of the Franco-German
group. The decision was taken at a meeting between
French President Nicholas Sarkozy and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse.
The
changes will also see German co-chairman Rudiger Grube
become sole chairman, to give the company ''a clear
structure''. While Enders said he would have "no
problem" in reporting to his new boss and former
peer, Gallois, the move is a surprise. Till late last
week, German officials had expected Enders, a defence
specialist with little experience at Airbus, to remain
chief executive, though they said this appointment
depended on the French.
The
French government — which holds 15 per cent —
and media group Lagardère, which holds 7.5
per cent of EADS, were at odds over the French candidate
for chairman, a position current co-chairman Arnaud
Lagardère wanted to keep. The German government
as well as carmaker Daimler, which control 22.5 per
cent of the aerospace group, feared Sarkozy was trying
to oust Lagardère in order to increase state
control over EADS, which the Germans have always resisted.
Officials
on the German side were keen on Monday to portray
Enders'' demotion as a concession — to pre-empt
French criticism of Sarkozy, who had called for a
root-and-branch reform of EADS during the French presidential
election. As Airbus boss, a German will be in charge
of EADS'' most important unit and another German will
chair the group. Mr Enders enraged French unions when
he revised Airbus''s ''Power8'' restructuring programme
to reduce job cuts in Germany.
But
the shareholders agreed to rotate posts every five
years, which means that a Frenchman will take charge
of Airbus in 2012 and another will become chairman
of EADS. Daimler also said shareholders agreed that
"there was no need for an equity injection into
the company", a setback for the French government,
which has tried to persuade its partners that EADS
must be given the option to issue shares.
In
a bid to globalise the eleven-member top board, four
new independent directors will decide strategy with
three French, three Germans and a Spaniard, though
France and Germany will still be able to veto key
decisions. EADS shares rose 0.5 per cent on Monday
to €24.09.
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