By Chris Morris Europe correspondent in Le Touquet

Last week was a bruising experience for anyone trying to promote a common European Union policy towards Iraq.

Now two of the main protagonists are meeting to try to thrash out their differences.

In public, of course, Mr Blair and Mr Chirac will be cordial, but there's no love lost between them at the moment

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the French President Jacques Chirac are holding a one-day summit in the French coastal resort of Le Touquet.

They will discuss European defence and immigration issues as well as the dispute about whether the European Union should extend sanctions against Zimbabwe.

But the day will be dominated by Iraq.

Tony Blair, fresh from talks at the White House with President Bush, will try to persuade Jacques Chirac to support the idea of a second UN resolution authorising the use of military force against Saddam Hussein.

We have to make sure they are allowed to work as long as they want to work and we will stick to our position Chirac ally

France, which could in theory veto such a resolution, has been expressing grave doubts. It wants UN weapons inspectors to be given more time. Faced with a decisive choice, it is not yet clear which way Mr Chirac will choose to jump.

There has been a working assumption that in the end the French will side, however reluctantly, with the United States.

They won't risk a decisive split, the argument goes, which could undermine the United Nations by forcing Washington to act alone.

Saddam will be concentrating minds in Le Touquet

Equally, they won't risk losing a share in the rebuilding of Iraq and its huge oil wealth.

That still may be the case, but there is another theory: that Mr Chirac really is looking at a new way of doing things.

There is no doubt that his foreign policy has become more assertive since he won a second term last year and got rid of an awkward domestic alliance with a socialist government.

Declaration fall-out

As things stand, Mr Chirac has grave reservations about backing American military plans, and his mood won't have been improved by the letter signed behind his back by Mr Blair and seven other European leaders last week which called for unity with the United States.

There is a lot at stake for Tony Blair, and this may not be the best time for him to try to talk Mr Chirac round

French officials say they still believe the weapons inspectors are the best way to disarm Iraq.

"We have to make sure they are allowed to work as long as they want to work," said one Chirac ally, "and we will stick to our position."

So there is a lot at stake for Tony Blair, and this may not be the best time for him to try to talk Mr Chirac round.

On the positive side, the two men intend to unveil a new defence initiative which will help prove that they can co-operate effectively.

Britain and France are by far the most important military powers in the European Union, and they both know that plans for a common European defence identity will get nowhere unless they work in tandem.

On the other hand, they will have to talk about Zimbabwe.

France has invited the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to Paris this month despite sanctions imposed by the EU against Zimbabwe.

British displeasure

Britain is, to put it mildly, not pleased. For now there is no agreement on how EU sanctions, which expire the day before Mr Mugabe's visit, might be renewed.

In public, of course, Mr Blair and Mr Chirac will be cordial, but there's no love lost between them at the moment.

This meeting was supposed to have taken place last year, but it was postponed after a row about farm subsidies between the two men at an EU summit in Brussels.

Now the big issue of the day is Iraq, and they don't agree on that either.