PARIS, June 11 (Reuters) - Countries involved in the Airbus project to build the A400M military transport aircraft need a six month break to decide how to proceed with the much delayed programme, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday.
Sarkozy said he had discussed the issue at talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We said we'd give ourselves a little delay of six months to continue to discuss the best solution," he told a news conference.
Long delays to Europe's biggest military project threaten
the A400M's future and could cost Airbus parent EADS
The project depends on talks between the seven governments which have ordered the plane -- Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Britian, Luxembourg and Turkey.
(Reporting by Anna Willard; Writing by Crispian Balmer)