The reactions have been prompt. One day after Airbus officially presented the details of its Power8 savings program, workers have gone on strike, politicians have begun pointing fingers and France has elected to pump €100 million in fresh capital into the company. Still, most agree that something had to happen. The problems the company has encountered with manufacturing the super-jumbo A380 have wiped a huge chunk out of the company's profits. The weak dollar has done the same. And developing models for the future requires amounts of cash that Airbus simply doesn't have on hand at the moment.

But will the Power8 restructuring program be enough? Perhaps. German commentators on Thursday, however, are more concerned with meddling from national governments.

Business daily Handelsblatt writes:

"Governments define national interests in terms of 'strategic economic sectors' and override the normal laws of the market, with the pretext that the very wellbeing of the national economy depend on these industries … Germany and France use this justification to constantly interfere in the company decisions at (Airbus parent) EADS."

"Why should a plane-maker have greater 'strategic' meaning for a national economy than, for example, medical technology or the automobile industry? Nobody can seriously answer these questions on the basis of economics. In the case of EADS one hears the argument in Germany and France that many thousands of jobs in high technology are dependent on Airbus. That may be true, but the same goes for medical technology."

"The simple truth is that national politicians in Europe meddle in the economy wherever they are offered an opening … In the case of EADS, the state share package provides them with a lever. As long as national politicians have these kinds of opportunities, then there is no point acting surprised. The 'economic patriotism' of today's world, as Chirac describes it, doesn’t really differ at all from the old form of patriotism."

The center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday says that Airbus was right to reform when its order books are full, but is concerned the company didn't go far enough.

"It is correct that the company acted now and not in a few years. It is correct that the company, in the middle of an unparalleled airplane construction boom, is looking to change its structures and sink its costs."

But: "The disaster of the A380 -- the biggest passenger jet in the world -- has shown that whereas the division of labor doesn't work, the mutual assignment of blame is in fine feather … It's not just the managers who feel responsible for Airbus, but also increasingly the governments in Berlin and Paris, whose predecessors founded the company. Because they have interfered massively in Airbus in recent weeks, the restructuring program only went halfway … One can't expect that the huge mess at Airbus will change much. Some things may get better, but other things will likely get worse."

The left-leaning daily Berliner Zeitung has economic nationalism on the brain:

"The case of the wobbly company Airbus shows just how widespread economic nationalism is. More than that, though, Airbus says a lot about Europe itself -- about how the European Union functions and about where the limits to cooperation are … The question that most occupied the politicians and the public in recent weeks was not: What is the best way to quickly restructure the company? Rather, the most important question was: How can it be guaranteed that the restructuring will be fair?"

"When it comes to blows in important branches of the economy, every government will place value in protecting national interests. That isn't just true of the European Union, but also for the US, Russia, China and India."