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LANCASTER HOUSE, 24 NOVEMBER 2003

Communiqué

The Prime Minister met President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at Lancaster House for the 26th UK-French Summit. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, the Health Secretary Dr John Reid, the Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, and the Ministers for Schools, David Miliband, Higher Education, Alan Johnson, Research, Lord Sainsbury, and Europe, Dr Denis MacShane.

The French President and Prime Minister were accompanied by Dominique de Villepin (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Nicolas Sarkozy (Interior), Michèle Alliot-Marie (Defence), Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin (Environment), Jean-François Mattei (Health), and Ministers Delegate Noëlle Lenoir (Europe), Xavier Darcos (Schools) and Claudie Haigneré (Research).

Following the appalling and indiscriminate terrorist outrages in Istanbul, the Prime Minister and the French President repeated their utter condemnation of terrorism from whatever quarter; and their determined resolve to do everything possible to confront and defeat it. They recommitted France and the United Kingdom to the closest possible cooperation to this end; and expressed their profound sympathy to the victims and the bereaved.

Next year will be devoted to celebrating the centenary of the Entente Cordiale - an event that marked the , beginning of the friendship and co-operation that has gradually linked both countries and who have since been partners within the European Union. On the eve of the Union enlargement, that both countries support, Britain and France want to deepen their relations and reinforce this friendship and this partnership in favour of the whole European Union, as well. In this context, the two countries will continue to work closely together to ensure the success if the IGC.

The London summit will contribute to this purpose, simultaneously through closer co-operation between our two countries on two main topics - Africa and defence - through the implementation of the agreements signed during the Le Touquet summit, 4th February 2003, on combating illegal immigration, and education, and by the launching of new initiatives, in particular in the fields of the fight against cancer and the protection of the environment.

Defence

The United Kingdom and France have together been in the forefront of the development of the European Security and Defence Policy. Our separate declaration on strengthening ESDP welcomes the considerable progress that has been made since our last Summit at Le Touquet in February, including the success of two military ESDP operations and one civilian ESDP operation. Our two countries reaffirm our support for the EU organising and leading a co-ordinated mission in Bosnia, following the termination of SFOR. A military component would be established under Berlin Plus. We look forward to discussions on this in the coming weeks.

Building on the success of Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we propose a new initiative for the EU to focus on the development of its rapid reaction capabilities to enhance its ability to respond to UN requests in short-term crisis management situations.

We shall continue to work together on strengthening the EU's effective military capability, including the development of further capability goals and the establishment of the Agency and continuing our bilateral work on naval co-operation.

Foreign Policy

The UK and France are committed to preserving the central role of the United Nations in addressing the challenges facing the international community. We will work together to achieve the aspirations expressed in the Millenium Declaration on peace and security, sustainable development -in particular for health, education and protection of the environment - human rights and good governance. We will promote common European goals in the UN, including through our membership of the Security Council. We support continued efforts to strengthen and reform the United Nations. We welcome Kofi Annan's establishment of a high-level panel to address these issues. We also welcome new initiatives to revitalise the general Assembly and will pursue further reform of the Security Council to enhance its authority and legitimacy, including through new permanent and non-permanent members. We will work to strengthen the effectiveness of the Commission on Human Rights and its special mechanisms, and to encourage closer coordination of UN activities for peace and security , development and humanitarian assistance.

Our countries are resolved to strengthen the UN's ability to address new threats and challenges to international peace and security, including terrorism and the proliferation of WMD, and to secure more effective implementation of Security Council decisions. We will work with EU partners to build on EU-UN cooperation in crisis management, and to help increase the effectiveness of UN work with countries in or emerging from conflict. To build on initiatives at Evian in June towards G7 outreach, we have commissioned further work among our officials on ways to strengthen the international economic and social framework, including with the UN and IFIs, developing countries and other partners. This work will address such ideas as possible new political bodies and enhancing the status of the UN Environment Programme. We propose that Heads of State or Government meet in New York in 2005 to review progress against the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration and other major UN summits.

The Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference in Naples on 2-3 December presents an important opportunity to reinvigorate the work of the Barcelona Process. In this respect, France and the UK, with agreement from Germany, Cyprus, Spain, Malta, Poland Portugal and Greece, have communicated to all Euro-Mediterranean Partners proposals for strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. We will continue to take forward these proposals, notably to re-enforce the political and security dialogue, and to promote further regional and sub regional economic integration.

Africa

Our declaration on Franco-British Co-operation in Africa, which we have agreed today, reiterates our shared conviction that working together, and at the heart of the European Union, we can contribute to peace and security, development and the strengthening of democracy and good governance in the continent. We will continue to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and reaffirm our support for the Doha Development Round.

In this context and emphasising that Africa's development depends on its integration into globalisation, the United Kingdom and France support initiatives aimed at improving the situation of African agricultural producers. Reaffirming moreover that peace and security are essential conditions for development, the United Kingdom and France stress their commitment to reinforce their efforts, to take into account the regional dimension of conflicts, to support African mediation and the efforts to prevent and manage conflicts led by the African Union and the regional organisations.

Justice and Home Affairs

The United Kingdom and France continue the unprecedented level of co-operation and success in tackling illegal immigration to the UK and France. This has included the closure of Sangatte, deployment of UK New Detection Technology in Calais, and close co-operation on intelligence and enforcement, successfully disrupting the activities of organised trafficking gangs. These measures have contributed to the stopping of more than 6300 people crossing illegally from France to the UK in the first nine months of 2003.

Looking to the future, the two countries today signed an Administrative Agreement on the roll-out of New Detection Technology, which paves the way for the extension of these arrangements to other French ports, beyond Calais. They also looked forward to the implementation of the Juxtaposed controls Treaty, which will allow UKIS officers to exercise a full range of legal powers in Calais and Dunkerque, and allow French Police aux Frontières reciprocal arrangements at Dover. They reaffirmed their commitment to working together even more closely in the fight against organised crime, both in the field of illegal immigration and against cocaine and heroin trafficking.

The two countries also underlined the importance of work taking place in the EU to develop biometrics to enhance the security of EU travel documents. They agreed that this was an important element in combating illegal immigration, organised crime and terrorism. They noted the importance of retaining the flexibility to include future biometrics, such as iris recognition, at a later stage.

Environment

Climate change is one of greatest challenges for the international community. The UK and France reaffirm their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol as an essential step towards global action on climate change. We look forward to Russian ratification and entry into force of the Protocol. The EU must show leadership in moving towards the necessary reductions of the order of 60% or more in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century, through improving energy efficiency, diffusing existing technologies, and stimulating innovation in low carbon technologies.

The UK and France will develop their co-operation on environment matters, through ministerial contacts and by establishing a high-level Anglo-French group of officials.

The two countries resolved to further develop their good co-operation on halting biodiversity loss, including through the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kuala Lumpur in February 2004. They also agreed to seek means to improve international governance on environment .

Health and Research

Our health services face a number of common challenges, associated with the greater awareness and rising expectations of our populations. The UK will share information and work in partnership on quality of services and performance measurement. The UK and France agreed to carry on the discussions about the European Constitution and the impact of European Directives on the operation of our health systems. Information was exchanged on combating the threat posed by HIV/AIDs and tobacco consumption. In an increasingly competitive world economy, it is essential to boost our support for research and innovation. As part of the celebrations of the Entente Cordiale, the two countries agreed to stimulate further transnational cancer research through links between existing cancer research networks and through emphasis on the scientific work of young cancer researchers. The UK and France agreed to set up further co-operation on cancer plans.

Education

The two countries reviewed the progress made in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed at Le Touquet. They agreed that, as part of the celebrations of the Entente Cordiale next year, a Student Conference on European Citizenship would be held in Paris next February.

Entente Cordiale

The Prime Minister and the President of the French Republic announced the two governments' plans to celebrate the Centenary of the Entente cordiale agreements in 2004. They noted that Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would pay a state visit to France from 5-7 April 2004 to mark the official start of commemorative events (the Entente cordiale treaty was signed in London on 8 April 1904). The President of the French Republic confirmed that he accepted the invitation from Her Majesty's Government to pay a return visit to the United Kingdom in the autumn of 2004 to mark the formal closing of commemorative events.

The Prime Minister and the President of the French republic approved a number of initiatives outlined by ministers at the Summit that would contribute to the celebrations. They looked forward to wide-ranging participation in both countries, both in centrally organised events and in events which people organise themselves. They welcomed in particular the decision to make the fight against cancer a central theme (including raising funds for cancer research). They also welcomed the involvement of key French and British businesses in the celebrations through sponsorship of high level events. These events will express our common will to reinforce our partnership in the future.