France and the Netherlands have held the first meeting of their bilateral Nuclear Steering Group, a new strategic-dialogue structure intended to deepen engagement around France’s concept of advanced deterrence. The meeting took place in Paris on October 14 and was publicly announced the following day through statements issued by the French Presidency and the Dutch Government. It brought together representatives from the Élysée Palace and the office of the Dutch Prime Minister, accompanied by officials from the defence and foreign ministries of both countries.
Building strategic convergence
The stated objective is to develop greater strategic convergence and establish the next stages of a cooperation framework whose concrete content remains subject to bilateral discussion. It is a deliberately gradual process: dialogue first, decisions later. The initiative responds to the offer Macron made during his March 2, 2026 speech at the Île Longue naval base, in which he presented the concept of “dissuasion avancée,” or advanced deterrence. The proposal envisages expanding the European dimension of French nuclear deterrence through strategic dialogues with selected partners, participation in exercises and possible conventional cooperation related to crisis management and escalation.
What it does not do
Macron also opened the door to the occasional deployment of elements of France’s strategic forces on the territory of allied countries. But he explicitly stated that the ultimate decision on nuclear employment, its planning and its execution would remain under exclusively French authority. The proposal does not entail transferring the definition of national vital interests or automatically establishing nuclear guarantees equivalent to those of a collective-defence treaty. That distinction matters to the Netherlands, a NATO member that already hosts US nuclear weapons under alliance sharing arrangements and has no desire to blur the two frameworks. The Paris meeting is the first brick in a structure France hopes to build across Europe — one partner, one dialogue at a time.
