The new Barracuda-class Suffren nuclear attack submarine, moored in the harbor of Toulon on November 6, 2020 (AFP/Archives/NICOLAS TUCAT)
After the compensation agreement unveiled on Saturday, a reminder of the highlights of the international crisis triggered by the rupture in 2021 by Australia of a gigantic contract for the delivery of French submarines.
– A contract worth 56 billion euros –
France and Australia sign on December 20, 2016 a gigantic contract of 56 billion euros for the supply of 12 conventional submarines, derived from the future French nuclear submarines Barracuda, which commits the two States for the next fifty years.
Objective: to start manufacturing submarines in 2022, for a first launch in 2030.
The submarines are to be built in Adelaide and the French industrialist Naval Group agrees that 60% of the value of the contract will be spent in Australia, creating around 2,800 jobs there according to Canberra.
– Naval Group under Australian criticism –
In February 2021, the CEO of Naval Group traveled to Adelaide to try to calm emerging tensions around the contract. The public group is under fire from critics in Australia where there are fears of additional costs to the program.
At the beginning of June, the Australian Ministry of Defense brandished the threat of a “plan B” in the event of failure of negotiations on the next phase of the contract.
A few days later, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed France’s “full and entire commitment” to go through with the contract by receiving Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Elysee Palace.
– Australia breaks contract –
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Sydney on May 21, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Saeed KHAN)
On September 15, Mr. Morrison announces that his country will acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom, which cancels the French contract. Paris denounces “a blow in the back”.
The White House ensures that France and the United States had high-level contacts before the announcement of the security pact – called AUKUS – between Washington, Canberra and London. An assertion rejected by Paris.
On September 17, France recalled its ambassadors to Canberra and Washington in an unprecedented gesture, and the next day, the head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian evoked “a major breach of confidence” and a “serious crisis”.
To justify its decision, Australia says it had “serious reservations” about French submarines. On September 20, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, judges the way in which France has been treated “unacceptable”.
– Biden and Macron explain themselves –
Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden agreed on the telephone on September 22 that “open consultations between allies” would have “made it possible to avoid” this diplomatic crisis. Mr. Macron announces the return to Washington of the French ambassador.
The Australian Prime Minister promises to be “patient” to restore relations with France.
The AUKUS alliance forged by Australia with the United States and the United Kingdom “does not change France’s Indo-Pacific strategy”, assures Mr. Macron on the 28th.
Long-planned negotiations on a possible free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and the European Union have been postponed.
The French ambassador to Australia will return to Canberra, Paris announced on October 6.
– “Lie” and failure of Morrison in the elections –
On the 28th, Mr. Macron spoke with Scott Morrison for the first time since the start of the crisis. On November 1, he claims to “know” that the Australian Prime Minister lied to him in this affair.
Australia officially joins the AUKUS defense alliance on November 22.
Mr. Macron and the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese want to “rebuild a relationship” of “trust”, indicates the Elysée Palace on May 26, 2022, the day after Scott Morrison’s defeat in the legislative elections.
– Compensation agreement –
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on June 10, 2022 (AFP/DAVID GRAY)
On June 11, Australia unveils a 555 million euro compensation agreement with Naval Group, which confirms a “fair deal”. France, through the voice of the Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, “takes note” and believes that this agreement allows “to open a new page” in the relationship with Canberra.
In total, the failure of the French submarine contract will have cost 2.4 billion dollars to Australian taxpayers, specifies Anthony Albanese.
© 2022 AFP
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