Franco-German companies actually have a lot of great aerospace expertise, but zero '5th' or '6th' generation stealth aircraft experience, and even less ability/desire to cooperate on a specifications-driven program to compete with the F-47 etc. The French also want a navalized version. It's almost as though Europe has a history of warring/competing tribal factions.
The
Germans now are going to (supposedly, if you believe it) partner with the Socialist Spanish instead (neither are renowned for sustained defense budgets for programs, and the latter really don't have much to contribute).
I think the
British-Japanese-Italian project, among the 3 supposedly that are happening (also counting Dassault, and the one linked above) is the one most likely to produce a (very expensive) flying test article in 10 or so years. The others probably will remain vaporware. Then the Japanese and Brits will commit to buying a few dozen each and it will be closer to $400 million a copy than $85 or so for an F-35 or F-15EX.
Anyway, Europe is screwed, yet again by their ruling class of aristocrats: