Brown and Sarkozy seal 'Entente Formidable'[fr][de] 

"It is not simply a matter of a one-night stand. I believe that we can go into the next day's breakfast as well," Sarkozy said during a joint press conference with Brown following the bilateral summit, held at the Emirates Stadium home of Arsenal football club in North London. 

In the tradition of the British-Franco "Entente Cordiale" dating from 1904, Brown offered France an "Entente Formidable", responding to Sarkozy's invitation of an "Entente Amicable" in his speech to both chambers of the UK Parliament on Wednesday (26 March). 

In his speech, which was greeted with a standing ovation, Sarkozy urged both countries to "overcome our long-standing rivalries and build together a future that will be stronger because we will be together". However, he also called upon the UK to play a bigger role within the EU. 

Political commentators referred to a new atmosphere between the two countries - set to be very different from "icy" Chirac-Blair summits. 

In a Joint Declaration, both leaders announced a series of measures to deepen the relationship between their two countries: 

• Energy: Both leaders labelled nuclear energy "the energy of the future". They had been expected to seal an agreement on a new generation of power plants, but the deal was delayed (EurActiv 27/03/08). 
• Defence cooperation: Both signed a single maintenance contract for a future military aircraft made by EADS, the A400M, in an effort to cut costs and preserve interoperability, despite Germany's insistence on making its own arrangements. This is in line with their pledge to further strengthen their military cooperation and improve the Union's military capabilities.
• Reforming international institutions: Sarkozy and Brown called for the G8 to be enlarged to a G13 or G14 and reiterated their support for reform of the Security Council to include permanent membership for Germany, Japan, India and Brazil, as well as African representation. They refused "to see the world of the 21st century governed with the international institutions of the 20th". 
• Immigration: Both leaders called for the tightening of border controls at the French port of Calais, with Sarkozy suggesting a European immigration pact which he wishes to see adopted under the French Presidency to better control illegal immigration. 
• Greater transparency in financial markets:  Sarkozy urged all member states to "swiftly and completely implement the EU roadmap agreed at the October 2007 ECOFIN Council," which called for a reinforcement of cross-border financial supervision. 
• Small Business Act:  Both leaders expressed their support for this Commission initiative, which has been labelled a 'paper tiger' by critical SME organisations. The Commission is expected to present its plans in June (EurActiv 08/02/08). 
• Education: Both countries pledged an initiative bringing education to 16 million children in Africa. 
• New counter-terrorism measures: Sarkozy and Brown's recommendations include scanning traffic at the Channel Tunnel to combat "nuclear terrorism". 

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown labelled Sarkozy's two-day state visit to Britain "historic", saying that him and the French President share "the same vision of the globalised world". 

"We believe that working together France and Britain can be an even greater force for good," Brown told Le Monde in an interview, pointing out that he and Sarkozy had already worked together for years when they were finance ministers. 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy returned the British courtesies, stating that "our two countries need one another". He stressed that both countries had "never been so close" and that the friendship between Britain and France "shouldn't simply be a matter of principle," but one that is "fleshed out by concrete projects". 

"I have come to invite the British people with us onto a new page of our common history, that of a new Franco-British brotherhood. A brotherhood for the 21st century," he said in his speech to Parliament. "He [Brown] was in favour of global. I was in favour of Europe. Now we are in favour of a global Europe," Sarkozy explained. 

"We need the British to get Europe moving," he told reporters at a joint press conference. 

In a BBC interview before his visit, Sarkozy had said he respected Britain's traditional relationship with the US, but underlined that this should not interfere with the UK being at the centre of Europe. 

Although he admitted that the Franco-German engine was "still essential" for Europe, "it is no longer enough," he said, adding that "we need first of all this new Franco-British entente". 

Ulrike Guerot from the European Council on Foreign Relations supported Sarkozy's assessment, welcoming the renewed Franco-British partnership as a "useful addition" to the German-Franco axis and dismissing the view that the Franco-British approachment could marginalise Germany. 

"Only France and Germany can display the critical mass to initiate and sustain reform in the EU. By no chance could such a Franco-British showdown deliver a similar impact." 

Europe should be happy to get the British on board since it needs all three heavyweights to move forward, Guerot said.