The German city-state of Bremen said it was ready to spend 30 million euros (38.7 million dollars) to buy part of the stake in European aerospace giant EADS being offloaded by carmaker DaimlerChrysler.

A spokesman for Bremen, in northern Germany, said Mayor Jens Boehrnsen and his deputy Thomas Roewekamp have agreed on the sum and would make a proposal to the regional government on Tuesday.

Other German local governments at the weekend hinted that they were also interested in acquiring part of the 7.5-percent stake that DaimlerChrysler intends to sell, as part of a bid to keep it in German hands.

These include the northern port city of Hamburg and the northwestern state of Lower Saxony. Both are, like Bremen, home to EADS factories or offices.

This comes after the federal government signalled last week that a way had been found to shore up German interests in EADS and to prevent power in the company tipping toward French stakeholders.

German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said in a newspaper interview that final details of the deal were being worked out and that the plan would be announced before the end of the month.

Berlin has long feared that France could gain the upper hand in the long-running power struggle at EADS when German-US auto giant DaimlerChrysler cuts its stake from 22.5 percent to 15 percent.

Such concerns gained more urgency from EADS' financial crisis, triggered by problems at aircraft maker Airbus, with speculation that France could seek to increase its stake in EADS via a possible capital hike.

DaimlerChrysler effectively represents German interests in the company, while France is represented via a 30-percent stake shared by the state holding company Sogeade and media group Lagardere.

Lagardere has committed itself to cutting its stake to put French interests back on a par with Germany's, but the balance of power would be upset again if DaimlerChrysler were to reduce its stake further.