Tony Blair and Gordon Brown will hold separate meetings today with France's new finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

Since he began work in his new role, Sarkozy has impressed the chancellor on issues such as reform of the eurozone stability pact and the need to promote economic growth in Europe.

The prime minister has also expressed strong admiration in private for Sarkozy, who in turn has called Blair the "foreign leader who impresses me the most".

"People feel that he has a tremendous amount of potential as well as being a very forceful personality," a Treasury official said.