UK-Macron Hosts Sunak For First Franco-British Summit Since 2018

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Paris for the first Franco-British summit since 2018. Macron and Sunak are set to hold talks at 1000GMT/1100CET, with a post-meeting presser taking place at around 1400GMT/1500CET.

• The meeting is seen as a chance to 'reset relations' between the UK and France, which have been strained in recent years amid the process of the UK withdrawing from the EU. PM Sunak's more cooperative stance towards the EU and its member states, notably in comparison to former PM Boris Johnson, has gone down well in many EU capitals.
• For Sunak, a major aim of the talks is to have France offer significant support in reducing the amount of illegal migration across the English Channel via small boats. The issue is a major political flashpoint in the UK, particularly among Sunak's centre-right Conservative party base. Reducing inward migration could prove one of the few avenues for Sunak to retain his parliamentary majority at the next general election amid weak polling for his party.
• The meeting will also discuss military cooperation between the two countries. While the French gov't remains angry at its exclusion from the AUKUS alliance, Paris is keen to work with London on bolstering resources in the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinese actions in the region.