U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)

Dow Jones Newswires | French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that European aerospace group European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. EADS would rejoin the competition for the $40 billion U.S. Air Force aerial-refueling tanker contract if the process was fair.

Sarkozy made the comment during a joint press conference with President Barack Obama. There has been tension across the Atlantic about the tanker contract since the aerospace group’s U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., withdrew from the bidding, leaving Boeing Co. as the likely winner.