Naval Group chief executive Hervé Guillou travelled from Paris to the national capital for two days of discussions which kicked off on Thursday.
The federal government is yet to finalise a strategic partnering agreement with Naval Group, which is designing Australia’s fleet of 12 new submarines. There are hopes to have the agreement sorted by Christmas.
A defence insider said there are tensions between Naval Group’s executive director in charge of the Australian submarine project, Jean-Michel Billig, and senior Defence officials.
The source characterised the negotiations as tracking “poorly”.
“There are some legitimate policy differences that have been greatly exacerbated by personality clashes,” the source said.
Click here for the full story, on The Guardian website.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: A spokeswoman for France’s Naval Group shipbuilder said by e-mail this morning that “Hervé Guillou, Naval Group's CEO, goes to Australia on a very regular basis and went to Australia at the end of this week to discuss with the CoA.
She added that “I confirm that there is no problem in the negotiations. We are working together with the Commonwealth of Australia towards the swift conclusion of the strategic partnering agreement (and) we're confident that we will soon reach an equitable and enduring agreement to deliver the Future Submarine capability over the next 30 years.”)
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