§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has held with representatives of the French government about future carrier requirements and co-operation thereon. [154661]
§ Mr. IngramDefence Ministers routinely meet with their French opposite numbers and the UK's Future Aircraft Carrier programme has frequently been discussed in that context. There is s high level steering group which helps to facilitate UK French co-operation and, in addition, there have been regular meetings on the subject both between project officials from the UK's Defence Procurement Agency and their equivalents in the DGA and on a navy-to-navy basis. These meetings have identified several areas for potential co-operation.