France is open to defence deals with Canada, its new ambassador says

Ambassador Hélène Farnaud-Defromont said France favours a European preference in defence buying, but can help Canada build its defence base by sharing best practices.

The ideal for us would be to achieve 100 per cent European content but, once again, we're being realistic.

— Hélène Farnaud-Defromont, French ambassador

European content in French defence gear

65 %

She said 65 per cent of the components in each piece of defence equipment France buys are of European origin, a threshold the EU wants for its SAFE loan program.

And us?

Why it matters

In February, Canada became the first non-European partner in SAFE, an EU loan program for joint defence projects, but only one contract for Canada has emerged so far.