**French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be in London later for separate meetings with Gordon Brown and his Conservative rival David Cameron.**Downing Street said the meeting with the PM would focus on the EU summit in Brussels later this month.
Among issues which may come up are EU plans to regulate hedge funds about which the UK has raised concerns.
Mr Sarkozy has not met Mr Cameron since 2008 and is likely to discuss his position on European defence issues.
Last year Mr Cameron pulled the Conservatives out of the European People’s Party - the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament to which Mr Sarkozy’s party, and that of German chancellor Angela Merkel belong.
‘Leading role’
The Conservatives have stressed they support working with France in areas such as defence.
On Wednesday shadow foreign secretary William Hague said a Conservative government would play a “leading role” in the European Union and would “maintain and value the bonds of our relationships” with other EU states.
But BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said there were questions about whether a Conservative government would pull out of the Brussels-based European Defence Agency.
He added, with a general election pending, the French president would be keen to gauge how far Anglo-French relations could change if the Conservatives win power.
The EU summit in Brussels later this month is expected to be dominated by the economy.
Downing Street said Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy would be discussing areas of economic co-operation, including financial regulation.
Concerns have been raised about EU plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity - Mayor of London Boris Johnson warned last summer they could “strangle” the City as an international financial centre and City Minister Lord Myners also raised concerns.
Downing Street said there had been “significant improvements” since the plans were first announced but Britain would continue talking to EU partners about how to improve them further.