Franco-British Defence Co-operation

The UK and France agreed a series of measures intended to enhance defence co-operation between both country’s armed forces, including the signing of two new defence treaties, at the latest bilateral summit on 2 November 2010. The treaties have been labelled by a number of analysts as ‘historic’, in particular for the implications of co-operation in the nuclear sphere.
This note provides a brief summary of historical UK-French defence co-operation, the main elements of the two new defence co-operation treaties and some initial reactions to the proposals that have been set out.