The celebrations for the centenary of the Entente Cordiale reach their culmination with President Chirac’s official visit to the United Kingdom. We are delighted to be able to produce this report to mark that visit and we are particularly grateful to all our many distinguished contributors, especially to President Chirac himself and to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair.

No two nations have had their histories more intertwined than Britain and France. And no century has been more momentous for either country than that since 1904, when the Entente Cordiale brought to an end centuries of often hostile rivalry.

A degree of constructive rivalry, and creative tension, remains, of course, and will doubtless be an indispensable ingredient in our friendship for centuries to come. But the importance of these celebrations is that they underline a true friendship – how much our countries mean to each other and how much, in so many ways, they depend upon each other.

We wish the President a happy and memorable visit and hope that this report will play its small part in illustrating, and strengthening, the many ties that bind the British and French people as we move into another century of what we hope will be ever increasing cordiality.