Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution when Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 20 February 2018, Official Report, column 5, what progress has been made on establishing a comité des sages to reviving UK-France collaboration in the areas of (a) security, (b) defence, (c) space, (d) genomics and (e) infrastructure.

​Our regular bilateral summits form a core part of our strong relationship with France. The 2018 Sandhurst Summit was very successful and our collaboration with France on all the areas mentioned - and a lot more - remains as active as ever. We continue to work with France on implementation of the outcomes from the 2018 Summit, including how we can take forward the concept of a comité des sages. As we prepare for the next summit, we are reviewing the structures required to develop further our close partnership with France.