France-UK border
Frontière entre la France et le Royaume-Uni
Characteristics
Entities France  United Kingdom
History
Established1903
Current shape1986
TreatiesInternational arbitrations from 1977, 1978, 1982, 1988 and 1991 for the maritime border and the Treaty of Canterbury (1986) for the channel tunnel.

The border between the countries of France and the United Kingdom in Europe is a maritime border that stretches along the Channel, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Channel Tunnel links the two countries underground and is defined as a 'land frontier', and not widely recognised as a land border.

Geological profile along the tunnel (in brown) as constructed above sea

It is defined by several international arbitrations from 1977, 1978, 1982, 1988 and 1991[1] for the maritime border and by the Treaty of Canterbury (1986) for the channel tunnel.

Maritime border

  1. 50°07′29″N 00°30′00″W / 50.12472°N 0.50000°W / 50.12472; -0.50000 (point A)
  2. 50°08′27″N 01°00′00″W / 50.14083°N 1.00000°W / 50.14083; -1.00000 (point B)
  3. 50°09′15″N 01°30′00″W / 50.15417°N 1.50000°W / 50.15417; -1.50000 (point C)
  4. 50°09′14″N 02°03′26″W / 50.15389°N 2.05722°W / 50.15389; -2.05722 (point D)
  5. 49°57′50″N 02°48′24″W / 49.96389°N 2.80667°W / 49.96389; -2.80667 (point D1)
  6. 49°46′30″N 02°56′30″W / 49.77500°N 2.94167°W / 49.77500; -2.94167 (point D2)
  7. 49°38′30″N 03°21′00″W / 49.64167°N 3.35000°W / 49.64167; -3.35000 (point D3)
  8. 49°33′12″N 03°34′50″W / 49.55333°N 3.58056°W / 49.55333; -3.58056 (point D4)
  9. 49°32′42″N 03°42′44″W / 49.54500°N 3.71222°W / 49.54500; -3.71222 (point E)
  10. 49°32′08″N 03°55′47″W / 49.53556°N 3.92972°W / 49.53556; -3.92972 (point F)
  11. 49°27′40″N 04°17′54″W / 49.46111°N 4.29833°W / 49.46111; -4.29833 (point F1)
  12. 49°27′23″N 04°21′46″W / 49.45639°N 4.36278°W / 49.45639; -4.36278 (point G)
  13. 49°23′14″N 04°32′39″W / 49.38722°N 4.54417°W / 49.38722; -4.54417 (point H)
  14. 49°14′28″N 05°11′00″W / 49.24111°N 5.18333°W / 49.24111; -5.18333 (point I)
  15. 49°13′22″N 05°18′00″W / 49.22278°N 5.30000°W / 49.22278; -5.30000 (point J)
  16. 49°13′00″N 05°20′40″W / 49.21667°N 5.34444°W / 49.21667; -5.34444 (point K)
  17. 49°12′10″N 05°40′30″W / 49.20278°N 5.67500°W / 49.20278; -5.67500 (point L)
  18. 49°12′00″N 05°41′30″W / 49.20000°N 5.69167°W / 49.20000; -5.69167 (point M)
  19. 48°06′00″N 09°36′30″W / 48.10000°N 9.60833°W / 48.10000; -9.60833 (point N)

In 2003, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce 'juxtaposed controls' (in French, des bureaux de contrôles nationaux juxtaposés, or 'BCNJ') at Dover on the British side and at Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne-sur-Mer on the French side.

This means that, when travelling from Dover to France by ferry, French immigration checks are carried out by the Police aux Frontières on British soil before boarding the ferry, whilst French customs checks take place upon arrival on French soil.

The Port of Calais

When travelling in the reverse direction from Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne-sur-Mer in France to the UK by ferry, French immigration exit checks and British immigration checks both take place on French soil before boarding the ferry, whilst British customs checks take place upon arrival on British soil.

Border crossing point French agency responsible for checks Nature of presence Ferries to/from outside the Schengen Area
Immigration Customs Company Foreign port(s)
Caen port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Brittany Ferries Portsmouth
Calais port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries Dover
Carteret port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Manche Îles Express Guernsey and Jersey
Cherbourg port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Brittany Ferries
Irish Ferries		 Poole and Portsmouth
Rosslare
Diélette port Customs Customs Permanent Manche Îles Express Alderney and Guernsey
Dieppe port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent DFDS Seaways Newhaven
Dunkerque port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent DFDS Seaways Dover
Granville port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Manche Îles Express Jersey
Le Havre port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent LD Lines Portsmouth
Marseille port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Algérie Ferries Algiers, Bejaia, Oran and Skikda
Roscoff port Customs Customs Permanent Brittany Ferries
Irish Ferries		 Cork and Plymouth
Rosslare
Saint Malo port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Brittany Ferries
Condor Ferries		 Portsmouth
Guernsey, Jersey, Poole, Weymouth
Sète port Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Comarit Nador and Tangier

Land frontier

General Wolseley riding on the fleeing lion. Published in the American humour magazine Puck (approx. 1885). It depicts fears of a Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel course
Channel Tunnel
High Speed 1
to Ashford International
South Eastern Main Line
to Ashford International
Dollands Moor Level Crossing
DC┇AC changeover
Dollands Moor Freight Yard
Balancing Ponds Viaduct (
120 m
131 yd
)
Grange Alders Viaduct (
526 m
575 yd
)
Dover Line Viaduct (
116 m
127 yd
)
South Eastern Main Line
to Dover Priory
M20 motorway Viaduct (
309 m
338 yd
)
High Speed 1 / Network Rail
Getlink
-1.659 km
-1.031 mi
Cheriton Cut-and-Cover Tunnel
(
1010 m
1105 yd
)
 Folkestone Shuttle Terminal
-4.436 km
-2.756 mi
Folkestone Shuttle Sidings
Cheriton Junction
Service Road
Castle Hill Tunnel Portal
0 km
0 mi
UK Crossovers
0.478 km
0.297 mi
Holywell Cut-and-Cover Tunnel
0.882 km
0.548 mi
Shakespeare Cliff Shaft
(Adits A1 & A2)
English Channel
UK Undersea Crossover
17.062 km
10.602 mi
United Kingdom
France
26.988 km
16.77 mi
French Undersea Crossover
34.688 km
21.554 mi
Manche
Sangatte Shaft
Beussingues Tunnel Portal
50.459 km
31.354 mi
Beussingues Trench
French Crossover
Service Road
A16 autoroute
LGV Nord
to Calais-Fréthun & Lille Europe
SNCF┇Getlink
Fréthun Freight Yard
Coquelles Eurotunnel Depot
Lille–Fontinettes railway
to Les Fontinettes
 Calais Shuttle Terminal
57.795 km
35.912 mi
Distances from Castle Hill Tunnel Portal
Distances to terminals measured around terminal loops

The Treaty of Canterbury (French: Traité de Cantorbéry) was signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, French President François Mitterrand and Minister of Foreign Affairs Roland Dumas on 12 February 1986, and is the original document providing for the undersea tunnel between the two countries.[2]

The Treaty of Canterbury (1986) is significant and unusual because it is a modern and recent modification to the national borders of the UK and France.

The Anglo-French Treaty on the Channel Tunnel was signed by both governments in Canterbury Cathedral. The treaty prepared the concession for the construction and operation of the fixed link by privately owned companies. It outlines the methods to be used for arbitration in the event of a dispute. It sets up the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) which is responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the construction and operation of the tunnel on behalf of the British and French governments, together with a Safety Authority to advise the IGC.

It draws a land frontier between the two countries in the middle of the Channel tunnel – the first of its kind.[3][4][5]

In the 1991 Sangatte Protocol, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce 'juxtaposed controls' (in French, des bureaux de contrôles nationaux juxtaposés, or 'BCNJ') at Eurostar and Eurotunnel stations on immigration and customs, where investigations happen before travel. France is part of the Schengen Agreement, which has largely abolished border checks between member nations, but the United Kingdom is not.

These juxtaposed controls mean that passports are checked before boarding first by officials belonging to departing country and then officials of the destination country. These are placed only at the main Eurostar stations: French officials currently only operate at London St Pancras but have previously operated at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International, while British officials currently only operate at Lille-Europe and Paris-Gare du Nord but have previously operated at Calais-Fréthun. There are security checks before boarding as well. For the shuttle road-vehicle trains, there are juxtaposed passport controls before boarding the trains.

Border crossing point French agency responsible for checks Nature of presence Trains to/from outside the Schengen Area
Immigration Customs
Bourg-Saint-Maurice railway station Customs Customs Seasonal
(beginning of December to mid-April)		 Seasonal Eurostar ski service
Calais Fréthun railway station Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Up to three Eurostar trains per day to/from London St Pancras, Trains no longer call at intermediate stations Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International. Customs Permanent Frequent Eurotunnel Shuttle services to/from Cheriton, Kent.
Lille Europe railway station Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Up to ten Eurostar trains per day to/from London St Pancras, Trains no longer call at Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International.
Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy railway station Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Up to one Eurostar train per day to/from London St Pancras.
Moûtiers–Salins–Brides-les-Bains railway station Customs Customs Seasonal
(beginning of December to mid-April)		 Seasonal Eurostar ski service
Paris Gare du Nord railway station Police aux Frontières Customs Permanent Up to 16 Eurostar trains per day to/from London St Pancras, Trains no longer call at intermediate stations Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International.

Channel migrants

There is significant public concern about illegal immigrants coming on small boats from France English Channel migrant crisis. Since 2018, The English Channel has seen a major increase in number of crossing.

Arrivals by month each year on small boats via the English Channel
Small Boat Arrivals[6]
Year Arrivals (% change from prior year)
2018
299
2019
1,843(+516.4%)
2020
8,466(+359.3%)
2021
28,526(+236.9%)
2022
45,755(+60.4%)
2023
7,297(As of 23 May 2023[7])

Bibliography

  • Georges Labrecque, « Les îles de l'Atlantique comme circonstances pertinentes à la délimitation des frontières maritimes », Norois, vol. 45, no 180 « L'Atlantique et les géographes », October–December 1998, p. 653–665 (DOI 10.3406/noroi.1998.6905), §1 « La frontière France/Royaume-Uni », p. 654–658.

See also

References

  1. ↑ United Nations (ed.). "Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic" (PDF).
  2. ↑ The New York Times: British-French Tunnel Treaty
  3. ↑ Eurotunnel 2005 Annual Review, accessed on 10 December 2007 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ BBC Inside Out - South East: Monday 14 October 2002, accessed on 11 December 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southeast/series1/channel-tunnel.shtml
  5. ↑ United Nations (ed.). "Treaty concerning the construction and operation by private concessionaires of a channel fixed link. Signed at Canterbury on 12 February 1986" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Official Statistics: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2022". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  • France-UK Border Research: A library of research and primary sources regarding the situation for displaced people at the France-UK border
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