Oral d'euro anglais : Relationship between France and UK since Brexit

Oral d’euro anglaise

        The relationship between France and the United-Kingdom has always been a love hatred relationship. Indeed, we often talk about a « Entente cordiale », an expression set up in 1904 but still representative of this special relationship between common interests and profiles, and an old competition. However, with the Brexit, decided in 2016 and effective on January the 30th 2020, a chain of events has brought several tensions which has strongly damaged the relations. That is why we may wonder if the Brexit has definitely destroyed the friendly relationship between France and the United-Kingdom or if a reconciliation is possible. First of all, we will see that brexit has created border issues, then we will explain that France has lost confidence in the United Kingdom before saying that maybe we can hope for a more peaceful start.

        Firstly, the Brexit has caused major issues and tensions around the English Channel borders. Indeed, the Le Touquet accord placed the border in the Pas-de-Calais, and huge metal barriers, video surveillance, a hundred of policemen and customs officers were set up to prevent access to ferry terminals and the Channel Tunnel. Yet, Brexit marked the end of this accord, complicating the situation. From January 2021 until August 2021, 15 400 migrants tried to cross the sea forward the United-Kingdom. Faced with this failure, the British accused the French to not stop migrants, Boris Johnson (the former British prime minister) ordered France to regain control of its borders. The British minister Priti Patel even threatened, on September 2021, to turn back intercepted migrants in France and to not paid the 62,7 million euros promised to strengthen the French coast surveillance. At the same time, the French accused the British to not respect their commitments. The French minister Gérald Darmanin even answered that France will not accept financial black mail but, also, practices contrary to the law of the sea. Indeed, an other major tension between the two countries is fishing on the coasts of the Channel Islands. Whereas british promised, during Brexit negociations, fishing licences for French fishermen, they retained them, without justification, and Boris Johnson sent 2 warships to Jersey where French fishing boat were demonstrating, on May 2021.

        Moreover, France has lost confidence in the United-Kingdom believing it doesn't respect established agreements. This major diplomatic crisis has been intensified with the creation of the AUKUS alliance in September 2021. Indeed, AUKUS is a military alliance between the United-Kingdom, the United-States and Australia to strengthen their common interests around defence and security. France has been really furious because it has been excluded of this strategic alliance and also because, under the alliance, the United-Kingdom and the United-States are going to help Australia to get nuclear submarines whereas Australia and France were supposed to have an agreement. That is to say, the French have lost a contract of 35 billion euros. Feeling as a treason, the French minister Jean-Yves Le Drian used the words « a stab in the back ». Peter Ricketts, former British ambassador in France and, now, member of the House of Lords, declared in 2021 that he doesn't remember of such a bad relationship between France and the United Kingdom and thinks that France has totally lost confidence in the United-Kingdom.

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