LONDON — British lawmakers expressed concern that the proposed merger of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. and BAE Systems will cost jobs and limit the capacity of Britain's defense industry.

While welcoming the deal in general, legislators from Britain's three main political parties said the creation of an aerospace giant to rival Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the race for defense and airline contracts is reason enough to welcome the combination. Still, they called for assurances that national interests will be safeguarded.

"These are very early days and a lot of hurdles are going to have to be cleared," Mike Crockart, a lawmaker from the Liberal Democrats, David Cameron's junior coalition partners, who sits on the House of Commons Business Select Committee, said in a telephone interview. "A lot of governments are going to have to approve this to meet their strategic interests. From a select-committee point of view, we are going to be seeking assurances about jobs."

The new company would have a combined market value of about $45 billion, sales nudging $100 billion and 220,000 employees, with assets spanning civil jets, Eurofighter warplanes and nuclear submarines. A merger would revive plans for a single European aerospace business that were abandoned more than a decade ago when the formation of EADS and London-based BAE split the industry in the region along civil and defense lines.

"It's got to be subject to all the practical details working, and there are a lot of them, but it's a nice idea if they can be solved," Peter Luff, a Tory lawmaker who stepped down as defense-procurement minister last week, said by phone.

The deal would add EADS's revenue of about $63 billion last year to BAE's $28.5 billion. That compares with $68.7 billion at Chicago-based Boeing and $46.5 billion at Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest defense company.

Britain is working with the BAE and EADS "to ensure the public interest is properly protected," Cameron's spokesman, Steve Field, told reporters in London today. The economic-policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party called for EADS Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders to take the helm of the merged company. French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg declined to comment on the merger talks beyond saying "it's a strategic discussion."

Lawmakers in Britain say they're worried jobs will be squeezed in an industry that Business Secretary Vince Cable identified this week as one he wants to see grow to help the economy break its dependence on finance and pull Britain out of its first double-dip recession since the 1970s.

Liberal Democrat Crockart said he doesn't want to see the merger create "the largest manufacturing company in the U.K." only to repeat the experience of the acquisition of confectionery maker Cadbury by Kraft Foods in 2010. Kraft closed a factory in Keynsham, southwest England after the takeover was completed, having said beforehand it would keep it open.

"It's seriously important we maintain the skills base that we've got in this industry," said John Woodcock, a member of the opposition Labour Party whose electoral district in Barrow in northwest England is home to BAE's submarine shipyard. "It's an overwhelming driver of the northwest economy."

Big isn't always better, and some lawmakers say they fear a single European behemoth will limit competition and not necessarily lead to improved outcomes for the military.

"What is important is that we ensure that the defense capacity of Her Majesty's armed forces is maintained and we will want to look into whether any such merger would have any detrimental effects in that respect," said Bob Russell, a Liberal Democrat lawmaker and Defense Committee member. "As far as I am concerned, we are better off with a greater number of players in the industry."

Lawmakers also said they want assurances about the corporate governance of the new company and where it will be based.

The companies, who cooperate on the Eurofighter, first explored scenarios for a combination in early June, followed by the first outlines of a combination a month later in Munich that included the 60-40 split, a person familiar with the talks said.

The companies haven't said where the combined group would be based, or who would lead it. EADS is moving its headquarters from Paris and Munich to Toulouse in order to be in the same location as Airbus. Besides Airbus, EADS also has helicopter, space and defense operations.

While most lawmakers said that what Luff described as "little Englander" instincts in Cameron's Conservative Party will give way to appreciation of the broader commercial benefits of a merger, some Tories said they worry about what such integration would mean for Britain's future relationship with the rest of the European Union.

"There is no way Britain would be part of a federal Europe," said Brian Binley, a Conservative member of the Defense Committee. "We need time to see how that impacts the merger. We are in one of those moments when the needs of business have outflanked political structures."

Weapons makers worldwide have been struggling with shrinking defense budgets as austerity-minded administrations rein in spending. BAE has suffered as Britain seeks to eliminate a 38 billion-pound defense shortfall, while governments across Europe have cut commitments for Eurofighters and armored-vehicle sales have fallen following the end of the war in Iraq and a wind-down of troop numbers in Afghanistan.

"Companies are having to deal with contracting expenditures in the defense world, so they are having to make some big strategic decisions," said John Glen, another Conservative Defense Committee member. "Of course I am concerned about British jobs, but we have to think about how these companies deal with declining dollars and pounds of defense budgets."

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