On 2 November 2010, in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed two bilateral treaties, equally authentic in English and French: the Treaty for Defence and Security Co-operation and the Treaty relating to Joint Radiographic/Hydrodynamics Facilities. They are not the 1904 Entente Cordiale and not the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement on Zimbabwe.

In the defence treaty, Article 1 commits the Parties to a long-term partnership: coordinating capabilities across the full spectrum of missions; the defence industry, research and equipment programmes; deploying together, when both agree, under the United Nations, NATO, the EU Common Security and Defence Policy, a coalition or a bilateral framework, plus case-by-case support when only one Party is engaged; the viability and safety of national deterrents, consistent with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; support for action in the UN, NATO and the EU, and NATO–EU complementarity. Control of the armed forces, the decision to employ them and the use of force remain matters of national sovereignty.

Article 2 sets the scope: a joint Letter of Intent by the defence ministers (exercises, doctrine, personnel, pooling of materials); the High Level Working Group on industry and armaments; jointly operated facilities; sale, loan or third-party procurement; industrial bases and centres of excellence; personnel exchanges; planning information; classified data, subject to national security rules. Article 4: an annual stocktake by the French President and the British Prime Minister; coordination by a Senior Level Group deciding by consensus. Article 5: deployment and employment of forces remain a national responsibility; an operation together with or on behalf of the other Party requires express command and written agreement, covering strategic objectives, scale, mission, duration, end state and the legal basis under international law.

Article 6 guarantees unhindered access to facilities, equipment and support functions that have become shared or on which one Party depends, including after an implementing arrangement ends, until a reasonable alternative exists. Article 7: early comparison of capability objectives and consultation before significant programmes. Article 8: facilitation of equipment transfers, market access and government contracts, and export of jointly produced equipment, subject to EU and other international rights and obligations. Article 14: the Treaty remains in force until withdrawal, with at least twelve months’ notice. Article 17: it enters into force on the first day of the second month after deposit of the later instrument of ratification. It entered into force on 1 July 2011 (UKTS 36/2011, Cm 8174).

The second treaty, Article 1, establishes the TEUTATES programme: the joint radiographic/hydrodynamic facility EPURE at Valduc (CEA-DAM) and the Technology Development Centre (TDC) at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston. Article 2: joint teams, with national and shared areas; independent national hydrodynamics trials at EPURE without scrutiny by the other Party. Article 4: EPURE Phase 1, to be commissioned in 2014; the TDC, with no fissile material, by 2014. Article 5: guaranteed access for 50 years. Article 6: France meets EPURE Phase 1 costs, the United Kingdom meets TDC costs; after 1 January 2015 joint costs are shared equally. Article 17: duration is the facilities’ life cycle, 50 years or another mutually agreed term. Article 20: the same entry-into-force formula. It entered into force on 1 September 2011 (UKTS 15/2012, Cm 8289).

The treaties do not create the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF): that non-standing force belongs to the political summit declaration, not to Articles 1–17. They do not amend the North Atlantic Treaty and they are not an EU treaty. The 2025 modernisation (“Lancaster House 2.0”) is a later framework, not the 2010 clauses.

Image: Lancaster House, London, summit venue; Gryffindor, April 2006; public domain, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Lancaster House Treaties. Treaty text: Treaty for Defence and Security Co-operation, London, 2 November 2010 (UKTS 36/2011, Cm 8174).