EADS, the European defence group, has suffered a blow in its effort to recoup up to €1.4bn ($2bn) in extra costs for developing the Airbus A400M after a rebuff from government ministers.

Franz Josef Jung, German defence minister, turned down a written request from Louis Gallois, EADS chief executive, for discussions about reducing the penalties that the company has to pay a seven-nation consortium for delayed delivery of the military transport aircraft.