I am very pleased to participate, here in London, in this seminar as the representative of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MHER), and to express our willingness to facilitate and enhance bilateral cooperation between France and the United Kingdom, especially within academic and scientific partnerships and through the greater mobility of students and researchers.

In these areas, our two countries maintain a long tradition of intensive and dynamic cooperation. The vast majority of our institutions have, in one form or another, collaborations established in all disciplines and have strong connections within the network, evidenced by the increase in recent years of double degrees, co-supervisions and theses, and the relatively stable student mobility.

France has a constant desire to develop the internationalisation of students' curricula. This is a strong message from the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Mrs Valérie Pécresse. The students' international mobility must become the rule in a training programme. Today, only 4 per cent of European students undertake part of their studies abroad and less than one institution in five in Europe offers an Erasmus programme to its students.

In 10 years, the proportion of foreign students in France has increased considerably, which is a success. Our country hosts 270,000 foreign students and 70,000 French students carry out a programme outside the national territory. Significantly increasing student mobility, especially in Europe, is a major concern for the MHER.