A new era for France and the UK?

By Paul Reynolds
World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

Preparations for Mr Sarkozy's two-day visit to the UK

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be ushering in one of those periods of Franco-British harmony which never quite develop into a settled relationship.

Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac went through a similar process in St Malo in 1998. On that occasion they agreed on steps towards greater military cooperation.

But that newly rediscovered sentiment eventually fell down over Iraq and the two antagonists, like an old married couple, soon resumed their sparring.

President Sarkozy, on his state visit to Britain this week, is trying to reinvigorate cross-channel relations once more.

He said in a BBC interview in advance that he wanted France and Britain to "move from being cordial to being friendly", and that they should agree "concrete" steps to show this.

Defence is again a key issue. The French president is offering to put France back into Nato's integrated military structure, from which Gen de Gaulle withdrew it in 1966.

But in return, he wants senior command posts for French officers and what he called in the New York Times last September "American acceptance of an independent European defence capability..."

To get American acceptance, he needs to beat a path to and maybe through the British first.

And this is where the new mood of Franco-British chumminess might fall down.

Different visions

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is an Atlanticist who shares the concerns of the British military that a dash for a European defence "capability", which is in fact allowed for in the Lisbon EU treaty, might fatally undermine Nato.

Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy have very different visions of Europe

President Sarkozy says that Nato and a European force can go hand in hand. It would be a double whammy for him - France properly back in Nato with some plum posts and, perhaps even more importantly, the prospect of a real European defence policy.

He would be engaging in another kind of integration - between the Atlantic and European visions of defence.

France is expected to use its six-month presidency of the EU starting in July to press the case.

The political background for a rapprochement with the US and UK is favourable. Iraq is no longer so divisive. Mr Sarkozy is much more pro-American than Mr Chirac was. He shares suspicion of the new Russia.

He is also currently not getting on that well with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When Franco-German relations get rusty, the British and French seem to get on better.

Practical focus

But what chance of a fundamental shift in the relationship between Britain and France?

Many eyes will be on the new wife but the president himself has something to prove ... This visit will give him the chance of appearing more "presidential"

Not much has to be the answer. The fact remains that France and Britain still have very different ideas, not only about defence, but about the future of the European Union.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown remains a fan of globalisation and opposes protectionism within the EU. He is cautious about developing a purely European defence capability that might upset Nato and the link with the Americans.

President Sarkozy on the other hand openly talks about the need to protect French economic interests.

Because of these divisions over visions, summits like this tend to focus on practical steps.

Many eyes will be on Madame Sarkozy during the state visit

This time, for example, there is the prospect of an agreement to co-operate on nuclear power, in which the French have taken the lead since they decided a generation ago to go 80% nuclear in their power generation (compared with about 20% by the British).

There are also likely to be agreements to help each other on illegal immigration and terrorism.

With a new wife and an old mother in tow (update: the mother is indisposed and will not come; however, Madame Sarkozy's mother is in the party), the French leader will also make a personal splash. Indeed much of the attention will be on the style of this visit.

Many eyes will be on the new wife but the president himself has something to prove. He is under scrutiny in the French media for having been, perhaps, a bit too flash in the first part of his presidency.

This visit will give him the chance of appearing more "presidential". The British monarch will help set the scene for this, with well-practised ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk