France and Britain hope to deepen defence co-operation, including in unmanned air surveillance, strengthen their influence inside Nato and avoid a confrontation over the future shape of Europe at a crucial Anglo-French summit next Friday.

The two countries may discuss plans for stronger voting rights in Nato for the larger military powers and will look at greater co-operation in the production of a new generation of unmanned aircraft.

A lack of drones during the five-month Libyan conflict left the UK and France dependent on the US for targeting.

The summit is likely to bring together London-based BAE Systems and Paris-based Dassault Aviation. The two companies are already jointly developing the Male drone.

It is also likely to discuss French proposals for a humanitarian corridor, probably from Turkey, into Syria, an idea raised by the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé. The idea mirrors the build-up to military intervention in Libya, even though the French say no parallel exists.

The interplay between the desire to strengthen defence ties, symbolised by the co-operation over Libya, and the tensions over the euro crisis now makes David Cameron's relations with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, among the UK's most important.

The summit will be held the week before the European Council heads of government meet formally to discuss plans for EU treaty change from Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, designed to strengthen central surveillance of countries' fiscal positions. These include European court of justice-enforced penalties for countries carrying excessive deficits.

The French have been trying to delay treaty talks, but may have to succumb to German demands in return for Berlin's co-operation on the development of eurobonds. A meeting this week between Sarkozy and Merkel appeared to agree on some form of treaty change.

Sarkozy is anxious to understand the British bottom line on what powers it would seek to renegotiate if limited treaty change within the euro-zone were sought. There have been hints that Britain would limit its demands to changes to the working time directive.

The Sarkozy-Cameron talks will also have to smooth over French anger at a 17-minute BBC interview in which George Osborne likened the state of the French economy to that of Italy and Greece. Osborne repeatedly demanded the French show leadership over their deficit, pointing out there had been two French budgets in three months.

The French, suffering a crisis of consumer confidence, stressed banks and a potential credit rating downgrade, regarded the interview as unacceptable, coming as it did from a chancellor presiding over collapsing growth rates.

They are willing to take criticism in private, but found the public scolding insufferable.

The treaty manoeuvrings obscure the extent to which Sarkozy and Cameron see eye to eye on the need to persuade Germany to allow the European Central Bank to become the lender of last resort. But Britain has little leverage on this issue, and will take French advice on how to persuade the Germans to be more flexible.

There are some signs of greater flexibility inside Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, even though Sarkozy has backed away from making any fresh public demands of Merkel.

. . . . If I were a Brit I'd be mighty wary about what the perfidious frenchies real intentions might be.

simplefrench wrote:

UK - Britain and France to seek stronger defence ties.

Are we inseparable? France and Britain hope to deepen defence co-operation.

Tant que tu nous garantis l'indépendance nationale, Charles..

It's all fun and games until the next time the germans invade and the whores suddenly remember who they're really tied to.

T'excites pas trop le minou jeanv ou tu vas chauffer du slip..

Entente Cordiale Pommes Frites