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| France-UK border Frontière entre la France et le Royaume-Uni | |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Entities |  France  United Kingdom |
| History | |
| Established | 1903 |
| Current shape | 1986 |
| Treaties | International 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.
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.
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.
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 |
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Channel Tunnel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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. | |||
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.
| Year | Arrivals (% change from prior year) |
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| 2018 |
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| 2019 |
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| 2020 |
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| 2021 |
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| 2022 |
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| 2023 |
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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1 Subject to the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls | |
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Borders of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories
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