Jens Buttner/DPA, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LONDON — So much for European integration.

The collapse of a megamerger that would have created the biggest defense and aerospace company in the world has bolstered the view that the self-interest of European states will invariably trump their desire for closer cooperation.

Germany received most of the blame for stopping an attempt to fuse BAE of Britain with European Aeronautic Defense & Space, or EADS. The €35 billion, or $45 billion, deal would have created a European giant to rival Boeing.

A German veto of the deal allowed the governments of France and Britain to point the finger at Berlin, but the plan that collapsed Wednesday had provoked opposition in those countries for its perceived impact on national sovereignty and local jobs.

As my colleagues Mark Scott and Nicola Clark wrote in the DealBook blog:

“At a time when unity among European governments has been of critical importance as the Continent grapples with its debt crisis, the failure of the deal exposed how competing national considerations can get in the way of cross-border cooperation.”

The German magazine Der Spiegel said the blame game among Britain, Germany and France had only just begun.

The magazine said some people in the German government were concerned the merger might threaten the country’s lead in top aerospace technologies. But Britain was also worried that giving European governments a big a say in the merged company might drive away business from the United States and Asia.

In France, where official and private investors were putting the blame firmly on the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, L’Express noted that the proposed merger had faced obstacles from the start.

“France wanted to protect jobs, Germany wanted to preserve Franco-German parity, and Britain wanted the new company to be largely free of government control,” the magazine said.

In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron faced opposition in his Conservative Party from those who feared the deal would cost British jobs, dilute a strategic asset in the shape of BAE and allow the French government to be the dominant force in the new company.

According to The Guardian: “The U.K. and French governments also harbored concerns about the transaction to the extent that every workable solution drew an objection from one of the three governments.”

France and Britain appeared prepared to resolve differences over the size of government stakes in the proposed merger. But both balked at German demands to put the headquarters of the new company in Munich.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a former German defense minister, lamented that a historic opportunity had foundered on opposition from Berlin.

“This is an unfortunate and rather surprising outcome,” he wrote in The Financial Times, “not least because it is Germany that has continuously stressed the need for closer European integration and co-operation, not only in economic and financial affairs but also in the realm of security and defense.”

For François Heisbourg of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the collapse of the merger was another sign of Germany’s disaffection with Europe.

Another, big sign of German disaffection with Europe. EADS-BAE deal Called Off: EADS Blames Germany spon.de/adL2i via @spiegelonline — François Heisbourg (@FHeisbourg) October 10, 2012

Gregory Viscusi noted in an analysis for Bloomberg Businessweek: “As Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has shown in almost three years of managing the euro area financial crisis, the interests of German taxpayers trump strategic designs.”