French want British and German armies to unite
FRANCE wants Britain to join with Germany to form a military partnership in which all three will share equipment and troops.
The move could see the Germans join an expeditionary force set up as part of the Anglo-French defence pact in November as well as all three sharing transport aircraft and air refuelling tankers.
Senior British defence officials said Britain was keen to see an improvement in defence relations with Germany.
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Defence Secretary Liam Fox is understood to have formed close ties with his German counterpart Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
And French defence minister Alain Juppe said he was “determined to do everything possible to advance in this direction” in tandem with Britain and Germany.
The matter is likely to be discussed with Germany by Dr Fox and David Cameron at next week’s Munich security conference. But Tory MP Patrick Mercer is sceptical about the idea. He said: “It is interesting that, when it comes to the hard pounding of Afghanistan, neither the French nor the Germans are willing to take their fair share. I wonder how equal a partnership with these two would be?”
The MoD said defence co-operation within Europe is seen as “an essential part of our approach to wider international defence” and as a result Fox “has worked closely with his French and German ministerial counterparts”. Mr Cameron provoked concern last year when he signed a pact with France that allows their military chiefs to take command of British troops, including the SAS in a new joint rapid-reaction force.
Mr Juppe will push for further defence co-operation to cut costs at a meeting on Thursday with Baroness Ashton, European Union foreign and defence commissioner. At a Whitehall conference earlier this month on defence cuts, French attache Rear Admiral Charles-Edouard de Coriolis called on the UK to make a deal with Germany.
He said: “There is a strong French-German relationship, there is a strong French-UK relationship, what is missing now is a strong German-UK relationship.”
A joint Franco-German brigade last month moved into barracks near Strasbourg, the first time since 1945 that a German unit has been based in France.
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