As the operational component of the Lancaster House Treaties signed on the 2nd November 2010, which materializes the political will of the United Kingdom and France to strengthen their cooperation in the field of defence, the Franco-British Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) provides a common capability that can be committed to bilateral operations or as part of an international coalition. The momentum maintained over ten years has made it possible to develop long-term mutual understanding and shared values, whilst improving the level of interoperability of the operational forces of the United Kingdom and France, called upon to intervene together in the framework of converging interests.

The military expression of a strong political ambition

Cooperation between the French and British armed forces is not recent. However, since 2010, it has experienced a notable acceleration based on the Lancaster House Treaties. The United Kingdom and France are the two largest European powers when it comes to defence. Equipped with independent nuclear deterrents and a full complement of armed capabilities, they are able to deploy and operate, alone or with their allies and partners, anywhere in the world on land, at sea, in the air and, increasingly, in cyberspace. They have put in place unprecedented levels of integration between their forces, and measures to further increase common capabilities in terms of interoperability have progressively been agreed, in the service of our common interests. There is no situation threatening the vital interests of one country which does not also threaten the vital interests of the other.