France open to defence deals with Canada despite its push for arms autonomy: envoy - Toronto Star

Open this photo in gallery:French Ambassador to Canada Hélène Farnaud-Defromont at the French Embassy in Ottawa, on Friday. Keito Newman/The Canadian PressFrance’s new ambassador in Ottawa says her country is open to working closer with Canada on defence procurement, despite its push for Europe to develop a fully autonomous arms industry. “In the defence sector and in other equally strategic sectors, France advocates for a European preference in procurement,” French Ambassador Hélène Farnaud-Defromont said in a French-language interview. “The ideal for us would be to achieve 100 per cent European content but, once again, we’re being realistic. We know we’re all going to need a bit of time to reach that goal.”Farnaud-Defromont said France can help Canada build up its defence base by sharing best practices. “France is the only member state of the European Union today to have retained a comprehensive defence industrial and technological base,” she said. “We have some really interesting ideas to put forward and develop together.”In February, Canada became the first non-European partner in an EU loan program for joint defence projects called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE.