UK and France to sign formal defence treaty

David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will next week sign a formal defence treaty between Britain and France that ensures a new drive for military co-operation between the two nations cannot be reversed by their successors.

As the two leaders prepare for the most important declaration of Franco-British defence co-operation in more than a decade, a deal to co-ordinate deployments of the countries’ aircraft carriers and ground troops looks set to be the centrepiece of their summit in London.

The Financial Times has learnt that both leaders want to shore up plans for co-operation across all three military services by signing a formal defence treaty, which will need ratification by the French National Assembly and possibly by British MPs.

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