UK-France DBT-DGE talks focus on SME AI, security
On 11 December 2025, the UK hosted the fourth annual DBT-DGE dialogue between the Department for Business and Trade and France's Direction générale des Entreprises. Led by Amanda Brooks CBE and Thomas Courbe, officials and embassy teams set out next steps; the government published the summary on 30 December.
What is this dialogue? It is a yearly working session, begun in 2023, where the two administrations compare notes and choose areas for joint work. The point is practical collaboration rather than big set-piece speeches.
This year's theme links directly to the UK-France Industrial Strategy Partnership announced on 10 July 2025. The joint statement-signed by the UK Chancellor and Business and Trade Secretary with their French counterparts-sets shared priorities in technology, clean energy industries and advanced manufacturing, and asks the DBT-DGE dialogue to keep delivery on track by taking an oversight role and adding a ministerial segment.
What does that look like in practice? The statement highlights work on carbon capture, critical minerals and supply chain mapping, plus support for AI use in smaller firms; it even notes a cross-border stress test on semiconductor supply earlier in 2025. The July summit also coincided with more than £1 billion of investment pledges into the UK tied to the partnership.
Now to the term you will keep seeing: economic security. In UK policy this means reducing the risk of supply shocks or pressure from hostile actors by strengthening supply chains and critical infrastructure and by scrutinising risky takeovers, while remaining open to trade and investment. The Cabinet Office's 2025 National Security Strategy and the National Security and Investment regime both make that link between security and prosperity.
And SME AI adoption? It simply means smaller firms using AI to speed up everyday work-customer service, forecasting, accounting-backed by staff training and good data practice. The government's SME Digital Adoption Taskforce reports that take-up is uneven; a 2024 British Chambers of Commerce survey cited in its report found 43% of SMEs had no plans to use AI that year.
For classrooms and boardrooms alike, the G7's December 2025 guidance offers a helpful checklist: start with clear roadmaps, test pilots before scaling, train people in every role, and keep options open-including open-weight models where appropriate. Those ideas give simple guardrails for projects on both sides of the Channel in 2026.
So what did the 11 December meeting add? Both sides agreed to share real-world lessons on SME AI programmes and on economic security work so pilots and policies line up rather than clash. For learners, this is a live case study in how bilateral industrial policy turns into practical action.
What this means for you: if you teach business, economics or computing, ask students to track where UK and French priorities match and where they differ, then predict which projects benefit most from joint work-think skills programmes, supply chain mapping and standards. If you work in an SME, expect invitations to training, trials and procurement rounds that ask for safer AI tools and clearer data safeguards.
A quick media literacy note. This story is based on a government news release and a formal joint statement, so it describes intentions more than outcomes. Read both together, then check back for delivery updates before drawing conclusions.