France lobbies EU as trust in US, UK and Australia wanes amid submarines row

The Indo-Pacific security pact will see Australia cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and acquire US nuclear-powered vessels instead

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael B Zingaro. Picture: US Navy via AP

France has urged its EU partners to consider whether to delay negotiations on the bloc’s future trade agreement with Australia over what Paris says is a lack of trust sparked by a major defence deal between the US, Australia and the UK.

French European affairs minister Clement Beaune said he would raise the trade pact and the security implications of the deal, known as Aukus, at a meeting with his counterparts in Brussels, and that France would ensure that it is discussed at EU summits and ministerial meetings next month.