France, NATO and European defence
France and the UK are close to an agreement that would dramatically improve relations EU and NATO. The two institutions currently make poor partners. Besides Franco-disagreements, Turkish squabbles with the EU also impede EU-NATO co-operation. France had long championed the EU over NATO for defence co-operation but President Nicolas Sarkozy has changed that. He has ordered his diplomats to stop obstructing NATO’s work and offered to return France to NATO's military structures.