EADS calls for quick resolution to BAE merger uncertainty

EADS Chief Executive Tom Enders called for negotiators to resolve uncertainty as soon as possible over a planned $45 billion merger with BAE Systems .

Speaking after a day of mounting criticism and rhetoric about the proposal to create a new European defense giant, Enders said the next 10 days in the run-up to an October 10 UK regulatory deadline would be crucial.

"We intend to come to a conclusion very soon ... We cannot go on much longer," he told an audience at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.

EADS board chairman Arnaud Lagardere, whose Lagardere media company is a core shareholder, called on the management to review the merger plan earlier on Monday, but Enders insisted the board strongly supported the proposal.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher)