§ 29. Dr. NaysmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made since the St. Malo agreement in promoting Anglo-French co-operation in defence. [104564]
§ Mr. HoonThe Letter of Intent on co-operation in crisis management and operations signed at St. Malo in December 1998 has allowed work to be taken forward on planning for non-combatant evacuation operations; joint exercises; improved links between operational headquarters; co-ordination of naval deployments; information exchanges on peacekeeping activities; Year 2000 computer problems; logistics; and arrangements for dealing with the media.
Specific examples of co-operation are: the posting of liaison officers into operational headquarters; the attachment of HMS Somerset, and later HMS Grafton, to the French FOCH Carrier Task Group in the Adriatic during the Kosovo conflict; the joint signing ceremony in New York on 25 June of Memoranda of Understanding between our respective Governments and the UN on troop availability for UN peacekeeping operations; and co-operation on media handling during the Kosovo conflict. We also signed a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement at the UK/France Summit held in November 1999.