BONN (Reuters) Germany, in a subtle conciliatory shift, said Monday it was striving to develop a cheaper version of the European Fighter Aircraft in agreement with its partners in the project: Italy, Britain and Spain. 

Bonn stunned its partners in July when it dropped out of the multi-billion dollar project’s production phase and said it would pursue a new, low-budget plane. Last month, Defense Minister Volker Rühe caused an uproar in Britain by suggesting that funds for the aircraft would be better spent on job creation, and his ministry brushed off British reports that Germany would stay in the project after all. 

Mr. Rühe’s ministry insisted on Monday that the fighter, as conceived in the 1980s, had become financially indefensible with the Cold War over. But it backed the idea of a scaled-down project. 

“We are striving, together with the other partner nations, to bring about a unanimous decision to redirect the remaining development funds for EFA into the development of a new European fighter plane,” a ministry statement said. It said Bonn would welcome participation by more European countries to spread costs at a time of fiscal austerity.