A400M nations split over conditions for new talks

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - European nations are divided over conditions for a new round of talks on the delayed A400M military plane and are racing to break deadlock ahead of a ministerial meeting on Monday, sources following the matter said on Friday. After threatening to pull out of the 20 billion euro Airbus project, Britain has signalled commitment in principle to the military transporter but has put forward financial conditions that other partners are unlikely to accept, the sources said. "Britain has made a two-fold financing proposal which is highly unlikely to be acceptable," a source familiar with the project said.
Details of the proposals were under wraps, but a British military source defended them as a "sign of commitment and pragmatism".
The A400M transport plane is designed to carry troops and equipment to combat zones like Afghanistan but has been delayed about four years. Facing losses on the plane, Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA), has asked for a renegotiation of the contract.
Buyers agreed a three-month moratorium preventing either side from taking drastic action over the project but this expires at end-June with no sign of a common forward.
Defence ministers from the seven European NATO nations that ordered the plane -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey -- meet in Spain on Monday to decide whether to extend the moratorium.
France and Germany last week backed the A400M and called for a further freeze of six months to allow more negotiations.