Franco-British Military Cooperation

Bachelor thesis "Franco-British Military Cooperation" focuses on defence and security treaty which was signed by France and the United Kingdom in 2010. The so-called Lancaster House Treaty committed the countries to long term cooperation in various fields of defence and security. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the motives which led the countries to enhance defence cooperation and also analyze why did the countries decided for bilateral cooperation outside of the European Union framework. This paper compares the benefits and limitations of Franco-British bilateral cooperation with the benefits and limitations of cooperation through EU's Common Security and Defence Policy. The decisions of both countries were significantly influenced by economic factors. Defence budgets of both France and the United Kingdom had experienced significant cuts as a result of global economic crisis. Enhanced cooperation was therefore a way for the countries to keep their military capabilities. The paper also focuses on the political motives of the cooperation. It analyzes Franco-British defence cooperation since the end of the Cold War and tries to answear the question why did the countries decided to cooperate with each other