France, European Defence and NATO

This research report provides a highly valuable up-to-date insight in the official French views regarding the defence priorities of the country and of the European Union. Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron outlines and analyses French proposals for the future of ESDP, based on the June 2008 French Defence White Paper, on the French EU presidency agenda and on her interviews. These proposals, which take into account strategic as well as fiscal considerations, call for an updating of the 2003 European Security Strategy, a renovation of the NATO/EU relation and an increase in the defence capabilities of the EU through greater cooperation between countries. The report also looks at how France and the UK could further their military cooperation, either bi-laterally or within the framework of ESDP.