German defence minister Thomas de Maiziere questions BAE Systems and EADS deal Germany, France and Britain must all approve the merger, but Germany is emerging as the country with the most doubts. Three French senators said the deal is "the best news the European defence industry has received for some time." Germany is concerned about the proposed 60:40 ratio between EADS and BAE, the threat of German technology leaking from the country, the prospect of job losses and losing control of how the company is run. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is yet to publicly comment on the merits of the merger. However, Peter Hintze, an ally of Ms Merkel who is in charge of aerospace policy at the economics ministry, is reported to be against the deal. The Takeover Panel in Britain has set a deadline of October 10 for BAE and EADS to agree the terms of the merger, although the companies could request an extension to the deadline. Tom Enders, chief executive of EADS, insisted on Thursday that BAE and EADS can meet the deadline. "From my point of view, the date of October 10 is feasible," he said. We have done our homework and the ball is now in the court of the governments. Mr Enders" hopes of securing the backing of Germany received a boost after the chief executive of Daimler suggested the car maker wants to exit its 22pc stake in EADS. We want to focus on our automotive business. It's not our key responsibility to define the future strategy of the aerospace industry," Dieter Zetsche said. Daimler's shareholding in EADS represents Germany's stake in the company, but the car maker would find it easier to exit its stake in EADS if the company merged with BAE because trading in the enlarged company would be more liquid.