NATO: France to prepare the implementation of permanent structured cooperation open to all the EU's 27 member states

Trust is built over time and through reciprocity

concludes Bernard Kouchner, France's minister of foreign and European affairs (in Le Monde).

Our openness to the United States and American support for the EU autonomously assuming its responsibilities shall advance hand in hand.

European defense and Europe's anchorage in the Atlantic alliance are two facets of the same defense and security policy, pursued in the name of the values we share.

The EU presidency, which France will assume on July 1, must allow us to open new perspectives in the field of security and defense, to fight against terrorism and proliferation more effectively, to reinforce our energy security, and to prepare the implementation of permanent structured cooperation open to all 27 member states, as made possible by the new treaty. We will resolutely strive toward that aim. We are already preparing ourselves under the presidency of our Slovenian friends. This progress will give full meaning to the renewal of our relationship with NATO.