LONDON, March 12, 2010 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Britain on Friday for talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the European economy, and a potentially thorny encounter with the man after Brown's job.
    Sarkozy's meeting with Brown comes ahead of a European Union summit on March 25-26 likely to be dominated by recovery efforts and the EU's economic strategy over the next decade.
    The two men were also expected to discuss key issues including Iran's nuclear plans, the Middle East peace process, climate change and European defence.
    Brown's Downing Street office said his meeting with Sarkozy would focus on preparations for the EU gathering.
    "They like to keep in touch before the big Brussels summits," Brown's spokesman said.
    The Financial Times newspaper said the pair could try to strike a compromise deal over EU reforms which Washington and London believe could damage the hedge fund and private equity industries.
    Britain, Europe's biggest centre for hedge funds, is concerned that draft EU directives to introduce tighter regulation could throw up new barriers to business.
    US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned the European Commission that its plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity groups could spark a transatlantic row, the FT reported on Thursday.
    But many will be watching his meeting with opposition leader David Cameron, who could become prime minister within weeks if the Conservatives win the forthcoming general election, widely expected on May 6.
    The French president will want to assess how far Anglo-French ties could change if Cameron wins power, analysts say.
    The meeting was requested by Cameron, according to Sarkozy's Elysee office.
    Though both Sarkozy and Cameron are from the centre-right, the Conservatives have broken off from the president's Union for a Popular Movement in the European Parliament and the pair have not met since June 2008.
    Cameron has pulled the Conservatives out of the European People's Party, the main centre-right group, saying they could no longer tolerate its federalist outlook. The move angered many of Europe's other mainstream parties of the right.
    French Europe Minister Pierre Lellouche in November called Cameron's plans to take back powers from Brussels "pathetic", and accused the Conservatives of having a "very bizarre sense of autism" in their attitude to the EU, though Paris later pulled back on the comments.
    However, Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague on Wednesday pledged they would play a "leading role" in the EU if they are voted in, in a keynote speech attempting to reassure European capitals.
    "If we win the coming general election, it is our firm intention that a Conservative government will be active and activist in the European Union from day one, energetically engaging with our partners," he said.
    Hague said the Conservatives would vigorously promote European co-operation on climate change, energy security, and pressing for freer and fairer global trade, as well as pushing for Turkey's membership of the EU.