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Aerospatiale Matra was formed in 1999 from the merger of Aerospatiale (Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale) with Matra Hautes Technologies, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group. Aerospatiale’s history dates to 1936, when France’s leading aircraft makers were nationalized and combined into six companies according to their geographic locations. Through successive mergers and renamings, four of the six became two companies and then one, Sud Aviation, which was formed in 1957. The remaining two, following integration and amalgamation with a third partner, became Nord Aviation in 1958. Sud Aviation achieved great success internationally with the Caravelle medium-range jetliner and the Alouette helicopter series. It also served as the initial French partner for the Concorde supersonic transport, developed in the 1960s and ’70s with the United Kingdom. In order to improve efficiency by avoiding duplication of effort, Nord Aviation, Sud Aviation, and French missile maker SEREB (Société pour l’Étude et la Réalisation d’Engins Balistiques) were merged in 1970 to form Aerospatiale. Two years later Aerospatiale joined Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH (later DaimlerChrysler Aerospace) with its subsidiary Lenkflugkörper GmbH to form Euromissile. Successful guided missile systems developed by Euromissile include the medium-range Milan and long-range HOT antitank weapons and the Roland air-defense missile.Although its codevelopment of the Concorde never brought Aerospatiale the financial success that it had expected, its participation in Airbus Industrie did. In 1970 Aerospatiale became a founding partner of Airbus, in which it first held a 50 percent share and later a 37.9 percent stake. Formed to fill a market niche for a high-capacity, short-haul jet transport, the consortium eventually became the second largest maker of commercial aircraft in the world (Boeing Company is first).In 1981 Aerospatiale and Italy’s Aeritalia (predecessor of Alenia Aerospazio) merged their designs for a turboprop regional aircraft and formed ATR as a 50-50 joint venture to develop, market, and support regional transport aircraft. ATR developed a family of high-wing, twin-turboprop aircraft in the 40–70 seat range based the ATR 42, its first product (entered service 1985), and the later ATR 72 (1989). In 1992 Aerospatiale and Deutsche Aerospace (later DaimlerChrysler Aerospace) merged their helicopter divisions to form the common subsidiary Eurocopter, which became wholly owned by EADS in 2000. Eurocopter was a leading manufacturer of civil helicopters and also expanded in the military market with its Tiger combat helicopter and NH-90 transport helicopter. In 1998 the French government transferred ownership of its 45.76 percent stake in Dassault Aviation to Aerospatiale (the remainder being privately held by founder Marcel Dassault’s heirs and financiers).Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction), Aerospatiale Matra’s other line of heritage, was founded in 1945. In 1951 a Matra-built aircraft was the first in Europe to break the sound barrier, and in the 1960s the company emerged as a prime European contractor for satellites. In 1990 Matra merged its space activities with GEC-Marconi’s aerospace division to form MMS, which in 1994 expanded through its acquisition of British Aerospace Space Systems.

In 1992 Matra merged with the French media company Hachette to become, as Matra Hautes Technologies, part of the Lagardère Group. The missile activities of Matra and British Aerospace (later BAE Systems) were combined in 1996 in a 50-50 joint venture named Matra BAe Dynamics. In 1998 the French government announced a plan to partially privatize Aerospatiale and combine it with Matra Hautes Technologies. The following year the transformation was completed with the formation of Aerospatiale Matra. The French government received a 48 percent share of Aerospatiale Matra and the Lagardère Group a 33 percent share, with the rest in public and employee ownership.

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace was formed in 1989, under the name Deutsche Aerospace AG (Dasa), as a wholly owned subsidiary of the German automobile maker Daimler-Benz AG. It changed its name to Daimler-Benz Aerospace in 1995 and adopted its present name in 1998 (while keeping the acronym Dasa) to reflect the merger of its parent company with Chrysler Corporation, forming DaimlerChrysler AG.

The origin of Dasa dates to 1984, when the German automobile maker Daimler-Benz AG announced its intention to reorganize Germany’s aerospace industry. By the next year the company had acquired a 100 percent interest in the aircraft-engine manufacturer Motoren- und Turbinen-Union München (MTU) and a majority interest in Dornier, a maker of aerospace and medical products. AEG AG (formerly AEG-Telefunken AG), a maker of electrical systems, turbine engines, and communication, radio, and radar systems, became a subsidiary in 1986. Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH (MBB), the leading German aerospace group at the time, was acquired in 1988. In May 1989 Daimler-Benz formed Deutsche Aerospace AG from Dornier, MTU, and two sectors of AEG; it brought in MBB later in the year. In 1993 Deutsche Aerospace acquired a controlling interest in the Dutch aircraft manufacturer N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker (Royal Dutch Aircraft Factories Fokker), established by the aviation pioneer Anthony H.G. Fokker in 1919. Because of mounting losses at Fokker, Dasa ceased financial support for it, resulting in bankruptcy for Fokker in 1996. Dasa subsequently acquired Fokker’s German aerospace subsidiary Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke. (VFW).
The component company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm had its roots in the aircraft maker Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) founded in 1926 and a company started by the German aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt in 1923. The two manufacturers merged in 1927 under the BFW name, which became Messerschmitt AG in 1938. During World War II the company produced the legendary Bf 109 (Me 109) fighter and the Me 262, Germany’s first operational jet fighter (see military aircraft: Early jet fighters). In the postwar period it manufactured civilian goods but returned to aircraft production in 1957. In 1968 Messerschmitt merged with Bölkow GmbH and the following year with the Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmbH and assumed the name Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH. In 1969 it joined several other European aircraft and engine manufacturers to build a multirole combat aircraft; the result was the successful Panavia Tornado, which entered service in 1980. In 1970 the Airbus Industrie management company was established with MBB as a founding partner (through Deutsche Airbus, a joint venture with VFW-Fokker). MBB also became involved in aircraft modification for the German air force. Its space-related efforts were linked to the European Space Agency (ESA), which in 1974 named a VFW-Fokker subsidiary (later acquired by MBB) as the integrator of Spacelab, a manned research laboratory designed to be carried aboard the U.S. space shuttle.
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European Rare Earths Competency Network (ERECON)

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 speciality metals used in high-tech products such as smart phones or wind turbines. Due to the lack of internal supply the EU needs to import more than 90% of these metals, mainly from China. As the demand for rare earths is expected to grow, the EU aims to improve access to these metals, reduce their consumption and improve extraction conditions in Europe. To help secure the supply, the European Rare Earths Competency Network (ERECON) was established.

The ERECON Network

To address the issue of rare earth elements' supply, the European Commission has brought together experts to form a European Rare Earths Competency Network. The three Working Groups of ERECON were focused on:

• opportunities and road blocks for primary supply of rare earths in Europe;

• European rare earths resource efficiency and recycling;

• European end-user industries and rare earths supply trends and challenges.

Final ERECON Conference (2014)

The final ERECON conference took place on 16 October 2014 at the Politecnico di Milano, in Milan, Italy. The event was an opportunity to present the main findings of the ERECON network. It brought together over 150 participants.

Key findings of the network have been compiled into a draft Report that will be available soon.