Sarkozy, Brown seek common front ahead of G8

French President Nicolas Sarkozy plays host to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday for a summit that will allow the leaders to synchronise their views ahead of the G8 in Italy.

The Franco-British summit in the Alpine town of Evian-les-Bains will be the second between the two leaders and follows Sarkozy's high-profile visit to London in March last year that put relations on a strong footing.

It comes two days before the Group of Eight leading powers gather in the earthquake-stricken Italian town of L'Aquila and start work on addressing a host of world problems, from the global slowdown to climate change and the Iran crisis.

Meeting on the shores of Lake Geneva, Sarkozy and Brown are expected to agree on pushing for an ambitious climate change package at the G8 summit, French officials said.

"There is perfect agreement between Paris and London to defend the goals of the Europe climate-energy package," said an Elysee official, who asked not to be named.

The 27 European Union countries have agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 -- a number that could be increased to 30 percent if other countries make commitments.

The United States, which walked away from the Kyoto protocol on climate change, has changed course under President Barack Obama and a bill before Congress would cut emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels.

But European leaders have said Washington's cutbacks do not go far enough and hope the G8 will provide impetus for stronger commitments to be agreed at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.

The French and British leaders are also to push for proposals to contain the volatility of the oil market: oil is now trading at below 70 dollars a barrel, less than half of its 145-dollar-a-barrel peak of July last year.

Sarkozy is expected to win backing from Brown for a relaunch of nuclear power in Europe, after France's state-owned EDF signed a deal to help Britain modernise its nuclear energy network, French officials said.

Turning to a sticking point, France and Britain will sign a bilateral agreement to strengthen immigration control on both sides of the Channel, setting up more patrols and committing more resources.

Sarkozy's government has vowed to shut down by the end of the year a squatter camp in northern France used by hundreds of migrants who try to sneak on board trucks that cross the Channel by ferry or train.

France has long urged Britain to help it stem the influx of migrants to the port city of Calais, where hundreds of illegal foreigners mostly Afghans have been sleeping rough.

Sarkozy will also discuss the future of the 20-billion-euro (28-billion-dollar) project to build the Airbus A400M military transport plane, which has been plagued by delays.

Britain has raised concerns about mounting costs, but French officials said last week they were confident London would not drop out of the seven-nation consortium behind the project.

Brown and Sarkozy are also expected to sidestep divergences over the response to the economic crisis, despite the French leader's call for stronger banking regulation and more state intervention to fight the recession.

EU leaders agreed at a Brussels summit last month to set up new pan-European financial watchdogs despite Britain's concerns about yielding some of its regulatory powers.

"On this issue which could have been a bone of contention, we have found a way to succeed," said a French official, downplaying differences.

During Sarkozy's visit to London, Brown had qualified relations as an "entente formidable" (marvellous entente), a play-on-words on the 1904 "entente cordiale" agreements that ended antagonisms between Britain and France.

French officials also say Brown's possible defeat in upcoming elections to Conservative David Cameron is unlikely to change the landscape.

"The president does have differences of views with David Cameron on Europe, but that will not prevent the two sides from working together," said an Elysee official.