EU: Anglo-French Discussions

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:44 pm on 11 July 2005.

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Photo of Lord Triesman Lord Triesman Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) 2:44, 11 July 2005

My Lords, we certainly cannot go anywhere else. I do not think that anyone would disagree with the importance of all the links. I hope that I can reassure the House that United Kingdom Ministers and officials remain in close contact with French counterparts.

There were 10 ministerial visits to France last month. The Prime Minister spoke to Dominique de Villepin shortly after the European Council. The Foreign Secretary has recently had discussions with Phillipe Douste-Blazy and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has just launched the UK presidency in Paris with the French Minister for Europe. The work goes on because it is central to our interests that it should.