| The Franco-British relationship is better than it used to be during the bitter saga of Brexit, when Paris and London traded blows over trade, fish and finance – and when the UK couldn’t even decide publicly whether France was friend or foe. Yet even as geopolitics presses the two countries closer, some scars will take a long time to heal. Emmanuel Macron, who like his predecessors is choosing to spend his twilight years trotting the globe rather than fighting fires at home, clearly relished the royal welcome of Windsor Castle and the chance to keep binding the Brits closer as a security and defense partner. With Donald Trump playing divide and rule while Vladimir Putin presses his battlefield advantage, there’s value in more common ground between Europe’s only nuclear powers to deter threats and support Kyiv.  UK and French flags along The Mall during a state visit in London, on July 8, 2025. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg And as a top export destination for everything from aerospace to agriculture to autos, the UK is seen as fertile territory for the French defense-industrial complex. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron announced more joint production of anti-ship missiles, more supply-chain investment and more artificial intelligence collaboration. The “Entente Cordiale” was re-dubbed the “Entente Industrielle” for the occasion, with the Brits also agreeing to chip in to the recapitalization of satellite firm Eutelsat. And yet this clearly remains a transactional relationship, with the UK media a good barometer of the real political red-meat goal for Starmer: A migration deal to reduce the rise in “small-boat” crossings across the Channel in recent years. Similar to the European Union’s deal with Turkey to reduce irregular entry into Greece, France has agreed to take back some migrants if the UK takes some in (pending asylum processing.) The obstacles are many, from legal approval to political will to uphold it. Brits should note that French politicians feel they, not the UK, are getting a raw deal. National pride, neighborly rivalry and inescapable geography are keeping the UK and France together and apart at the same time – plus ça change. It may not always be cordiale, but Macron and Starmer can at least claim there’s an entente. And in a world where Europe’s geopolitical light is flickering, that’s a good thing. France and the UK agreed their cooperation on nuclear deterrence, declaring a willingness to coordinate any response to an extreme security threat in Europe. France is among European countries turning to part-timers, conscripts and reserves to build their armies.
Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz will seek to quell a growing Franco-German squabble over the countries’ next-generation fighter jet when they meet for high-profile consultations in Berlin this month.  An FCAS model aircraft. Photographer: Julien De Rosa/Getty Images French police raided the headquarters of the far-right National Rally on Wednesday in an investigation into suspicions of unlawful funding of its latest presidential campaign, a move the party’s head immediately branded as “harassment.” France’s antitrust regulator said it notified Meta Platforms Inc. of a potential violation of competition rules related to the online advertising sector. French authorities raided the local headquarters of Nestle SA near Paris on Thursday, as the scandal into the Swiss company’s treatment of bottled mineral water deepens. Sunday: Macron delivers speech on eve of Bastille Day Monday: Bastille Day Tuesday: French PM Bayrou to unveil budget plans The original Hermès Birkin bag sold for a record $10 million at Sotheby’s in Paris. Not bad for a design sketched out some forty years ago on an airplane sickness-bag.  Jane Birkin's original Birkin bag. Photographer: Ela Lefvre | 
