§ Mr. Bernard JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place a copy of agreements and declarations made with the French Government at the recent Le Touquet summit in the Library. [98814]
§ Mr. HoonThe United Kingdom and France agreed a joint declaration on defence at the Le Touquet Summit on 4 February. I have placed a copy of the declaration in the Library of the House.
Two Letters of Intent were also agreed at the Summit. These were a general agreement on navy-to-navy co-operation and an agreement on exploring possibilities for closer co-ordination of aircraft carrier operations, in particular harmonising activity cycles and training. Both documents contain information received in confidence from the French Government. I am therefore withholding these documents under Exemption Ic (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.