cooperation between the three countries. France, as a founding member of the European Community, European Union, and NATO, as well as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and nuclear power, is one of Poland's principal political, economic, cultural, scientific and technological partners. The year 2004 marked a breakthrough in Polish-French relations. After a period of tension caused by different approaches to the Iraq crisis and the European Constitution negotiations, relations improved. After the accession of Poland to the European Union on May 1, 2004, meetings of the heads of state from both countries have been organized yearly. France is the largest contributor of foreign direct investment in Poland. The French companies with the largest presence in Poland include Orange, Vivendi, Carrefour, Casino, Crédit Agricole, Saint Gobain and Auchan. Controversy was caused by the phrase "Polish Plumber", which appeared in France around 2005. About one million ethnic Poles live in France, concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in the metropolitan area of Lille and the coal-mining region (bassin minier) around Lens and Valenciennes. Polish mineurs' descendants are also found in Auberny. Poland and France have held intergovernmental consultations on several occasions. The last such summit took place on 2015 in Paris with President François Hollande and Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz. In August 2022, Poland sent 146 firefighters and 49 vehicles to France, the largest such group from a foreign country to help extinguish the 2022 wildfires in France. Resident diplomatic missions France has an embassy in Warsaw and a consulate-general in Kraków. Poland has an embassy in Paris and a consulate-general in Lyon. See also Poles in France French people in Poland List of Ambassadors of France to Poland Polish Legions Franco-Polish alliance Hôtel Lambert List of twin towns and sister cities in France List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland France–Ukraine relations Germany–Poland relations Poland in the European Union References Further reading Cienciala, Anna, and Titus Komarnicki. From Versailles to Locarno: Keys to Polish Foreign Policy, 1919-1925 (1984) Cienciala, Anna. Poland and the Western Powers, 1938-1939: A Study in the Interdependence of Eastern and Western Europe, (1968) Davies, Norman. God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (2005) Davies, Norman. God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present (2005) Karski, Jan. The Great Powers & Poland, 1919-1945: from Versailles to Yalta (UP of America, 1985). Lobanov-Rostovsky,