Defence co operation "main dish" at Bordeaux summit

THE British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, his French counterpart, Mr Alain Juppe, and President Jacques Chirac are meeting today in Bordeaux, where they will discuss European issues and the crisis in Zaire.

The summit promised to be a culinary adventure for Mr Major. The three men were scheduled to dine together in one of Bordeaux's finest restaurants last night, after drinks hosted by Mr Major on the British destroyer Liverpool. As Mr Major wrote himself in a front page editorial in today's Le Monde, the British "remain among the greatest lovers of Bordeaux wine in the world".

Defence co operation is to be, to quote Mr Major in Le Monde, le plai de resistance on the summit table. (Oddly, both the allusion to wine and to defence as the main dish" were taken out of the English version of the article provided by the British government press office.)

Mr Major noted in his article that "defence has been the most visible recent growth area in Franco British co operation". But he was adamant that NATO, where the US holds sway over all other allies, is "the only framework" where a European defence identity can become a reality.

The French and British defence ministers are expected to sign new agreements at the summit today, on board the Liverpool and the frigate Latouche Treville. One agreement foresees greater co operation between the French and British navies.

In the minds of many French people, Britain is a reluctant partner in Europe and a drag on the institution building process. "Britain is much criticised in Europe and on Europe," Mr Major admitted in Le Monde. "But wrongly. I am a convinced European. So are the majority of my compatriots. Britain's place is in Europe. But we are not blind Europeans. We want a Europe that works."

To judge from Mr Major's editorial, the Europe he envisages is a diverse union with highly developed trade relations, "where our young people can study freely in each other's countries and set themselves up in business in the European country of their choice".

"There will be a growing range of issues on which some will want to move faster and further than others." Bordeaux was "not the place to discuss the detail of the Economic and Monetary Union", he said.