On Wednesday, the French Head of State, Nicolas Sarkozy, will meet the British Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, in the first state visit by a French president to Britain since 1996. The president will dine at Buckingham Palace and stay overnight in Windsor Castle.
He will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown. For centuries, Britain and France have often been fierce rivals and, of course, have fought each other many times on the battlefield. But for once, both countries see something they both agree with - the subject of new nuclear power stations.
Brown and Sarkozy will unveil an Anglo-French plan for a new generation of nuclear power plants. The two countries will then work together to export the advanced technology worldwide.
The two next door neighbours will also discuss the issues of illegal immigrants entering into Britain from France...
Nuclear arsenal summit will seal entente for Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown
By Susan Bell in Paris and Tim Shipman in Washington
23rd January
The Telegraph
Nicolas Sarkozy: France's 23rd President
Gordon Brown: Britain's 52nd Prime Minister
An Anglo-French plan for a new generation of nuclear power stations will be unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown this week as part of a series of measures designed to forge a "fraternal" relationship between the two countries.
Workmen place a French flag outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire in preparation for the visit of the French President
Mr Sarkozy, who arrives on Wednesday for the first full state visit by a French president for 12 years, is to offer French expertise to help Britain build replacement nuclear reactors for its ageing plants, responsible for 20 per cent of electricity production.
The two countries will then work together to export the advanced technology abroad.
The joint effort will be hailed as a drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing Britain's reliance on fossil fuels. But anti-nuclear campaigners are expected to react with dismay to the notion that Britain may follow the lead of France, which generates 80 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy.
The expected announcement will come on Thursday in the unlikely surroundings of Arsenal Football Club in north London, chosen because its manager and half of its team are French.
On the British side of the Channel, the flags are being hung, the guest rooms are being prepared at Windsor and the Queen's bagpipers are rehearsing for the banquet at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening.
Across La Manche, the president's bride of seven weeks, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has been engaged in a flurry of last-minute shopping while officials at the Élysée Palace fine-tune the list of family members and ministers to accompany the president.
Not only is there a possibility that Mr Sarkozy will bring Andrée Sarkozy, his 81-year-old mother, he may also bring his two eldest sons Pierre, 23, and Jean, 21.
A British embassy spokesman said: "It is clearly a matter for Mr Sarkozy to decide who he wishes to bring with him. We will be delighted to welcome and look after them all."
On both sides the hope is to take advantage of Mr Sarkozy's avowed enthusiasm for Britain - greater than any of his recent predecessors - to draw closer together two countries often at odds, but whose histories are inextricably entwined. Diplomats and civil servants are putting the finishing touches to other agreements which British and French ministers, including a string of elegant female cabinet ministers appointed by Mr Sarkozy, plan to unveil during what has already been nicknamed the "Arsenal summit".
These are expected to include a clampdown on illegal immigration across the Channel, joint charter flights to deport illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers, and closer defence co-operation.
Mr Sarkozy is preparing to tell Mr Brown that France will send up to 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to demonstrate his commitment to the Nato mission in the country, although a formal announcement may be delayed until next month's Nato summit in Romania.
He has already signalled his desire to bring France back into Nato's command structure, ending the semi-detached status insisted on by President Charles de Gaulle four decades ago. In return, Mr Sarkozy is seeking both British and American support for the EU to build up its defence capability within Nato.
However, in a report to be published tomorrow, a Washington think-tank says that the move could "tear Nato in half". The Heritage Foundation warning comes as the US seems willing to back the French plans so that Europe can make a greater contribution to the war on terror.
British military commanders are suspicious of the move, believing it heralds an attempt to bring European defence under the control of the EU. They believe that establishing a separate European defence policy within Nato, as Mr Sarkozy wants, would lead to duplication of effort and create extra bureaucracy.
The critical US report concludes: "The ransom being demanded by Paris for a return to the Nato fold is too high a price for the United States and Great Britain to pay."
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said: "A separate European pillar within Nato is extraordinarily dangerous. The Americans need to understand the risks. Instead of the EU acting as a delivery arm for Nato, the danger is that it will act in competition." After lunching with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, the Sarkozys will travel to Westminster where the president will address both Houses of Parliament - in French.
The following day he will hold talks with Mr Brown at Downing Street before travelling to the Emirates Stadium with a team of 11 ministers and their British counterparts.
A senior aide at the Élysée Palace described the state visit as an opportunity for Britain and France to forge "a new fraternity" for the 21st century.
But many eyes will be on France's First Lady as she takes her first tentative steps in her new role.
The former model and singer, whose colourful past includes rock star boyfriends Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, has won plaudits for her demure and sober approach since her marriage to Mr Sarkozy.
On Thursday, she will join the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah, at a luncheon in aid of the charitable organisation The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.
She will then accompany Mr Sarkozy to Greenwich where the president will decorate Dame Ellen MacArthur, the yachtswoman, with the Légion d'honneur.
telegraph.co.uk
He will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown. For centuries, Britain and France have often been fierce rivals and, of course, have fought each other many times on the battlefield. But for once, both countries see something they both agree with - the subject of new nuclear power stations.
Brown and Sarkozy will unveil an Anglo-French plan for a new generation of nuclear power plants. The two countries will then work together to export the advanced technology worldwide.
The two next door neighbours will also discuss the issues of illegal immigrants entering into Britain from France...
Nuclear arsenal summit will seal entente for Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown
By Susan Bell in Paris and Tim Shipman in Washington
23rd January
The Telegraph
Nicolas Sarkozy: France's 23rd President
Gordon Brown: Britain's 52nd Prime Minister
An Anglo-French plan for a new generation of nuclear power stations will be unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown this week as part of a series of measures designed to forge a "fraternal" relationship between the two countries.
Workmen place a French flag outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire in preparation for the visit of the French President
Mr Sarkozy, who arrives on Wednesday for the first full state visit by a French president for 12 years, is to offer French expertise to help Britain build replacement nuclear reactors for its ageing plants, responsible for 20 per cent of electricity production.
The two countries will then work together to export the advanced technology abroad.
The joint effort will be hailed as a drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing Britain's reliance on fossil fuels. But anti-nuclear campaigners are expected to react with dismay to the notion that Britain may follow the lead of France, which generates 80 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy.
The expected announcement will come on Thursday in the unlikely surroundings of Arsenal Football Club in north London, chosen because its manager and half of its team are French.
On the British side of the Channel, the flags are being hung, the guest rooms are being prepared at Windsor and the Queen's bagpipers are rehearsing for the banquet at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening.
Across La Manche, the president's bride of seven weeks, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has been engaged in a flurry of last-minute shopping while officials at the Élysée Palace fine-tune the list of family members and ministers to accompany the president.
Not only is there a possibility that Mr Sarkozy will bring Andrée Sarkozy, his 81-year-old mother, he may also bring his two eldest sons Pierre, 23, and Jean, 21.
A British embassy spokesman said: "It is clearly a matter for Mr Sarkozy to decide who he wishes to bring with him. We will be delighted to welcome and look after them all."
On both sides the hope is to take advantage of Mr Sarkozy's avowed enthusiasm for Britain - greater than any of his recent predecessors - to draw closer together two countries often at odds, but whose histories are inextricably entwined. Diplomats and civil servants are putting the finishing touches to other agreements which British and French ministers, including a string of elegant female cabinet ministers appointed by Mr Sarkozy, plan to unveil during what has already been nicknamed the "Arsenal summit".
These are expected to include a clampdown on illegal immigration across the Channel, joint charter flights to deport illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers, and closer defence co-operation.
Mr Sarkozy is preparing to tell Mr Brown that France will send up to 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to demonstrate his commitment to the Nato mission in the country, although a formal announcement may be delayed until next month's Nato summit in Romania.
He has already signalled his desire to bring France back into Nato's command structure, ending the semi-detached status insisted on by President Charles de Gaulle four decades ago. In return, Mr Sarkozy is seeking both British and American support for the EU to build up its defence capability within Nato.
However, in a report to be published tomorrow, a Washington think-tank says that the move could "tear Nato in half". The Heritage Foundation warning comes as the US seems willing to back the French plans so that Europe can make a greater contribution to the war on terror.
British military commanders are suspicious of the move, believing it heralds an attempt to bring European defence under the control of the EU. They believe that establishing a separate European defence policy within Nato, as Mr Sarkozy wants, would lead to duplication of effort and create extra bureaucracy.
The critical US report concludes: "The ransom being demanded by Paris for a return to the Nato fold is too high a price for the United States and Great Britain to pay."
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said: "A separate European pillar within Nato is extraordinarily dangerous. The Americans need to understand the risks. Instead of the EU acting as a delivery arm for Nato, the danger is that it will act in competition." After lunching with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, the Sarkozys will travel to Westminster where the president will address both Houses of Parliament - in French.
The following day he will hold talks with Mr Brown at Downing Street before travelling to the Emirates Stadium with a team of 11 ministers and their British counterparts.
A senior aide at the Élysée Palace described the state visit as an opportunity for Britain and France to forge "a new fraternity" for the 21st century.
But many eyes will be on France's First Lady as she takes her first tentative steps in her new role.
The former model and singer, whose colourful past includes rock star boyfriends Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, has won plaudits for her demure and sober approach since her marriage to Mr Sarkozy.
On Thursday, she will join the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah, at a luncheon in aid of the charitable organisation The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.
She will then accompany Mr Sarkozy to Greenwich where the president will decorate Dame Ellen MacArthur, the yachtswoman, with the Légion d'honneur.
telegraph.co.uk