Nothing is going well between the United Kingdom and France.
Traveling in the North to discuss the migration issue this Saturday, Gérald Darmanin had harsh words against our British neighbors: "We cannot be hostage to the internal politics of the United Kingdom," he said. he declared, before adding that if France is "an ally of Great Britain", she is "not its vassal".
These strong statements, intended to show Boris Johnson that France will not be walked on, testify to the rise in tensions between the two countries in recent months.
The English Channel and the North Sea crystallize friction.
From the French coast, many migrants are trying to get to the United Kingdom, which annoys London.
For its part, Paris believes that the United Kingdom must take out the checkbook to participate in the border surveillance effort.
But there is more to the quarrel than that.
Explanations.
What does Gerald Darmanin criticize in the United Kingdom?
On Saturday, Gerald Darmanin asked the United Kingdom to pay 62.7 million euros to France.
The British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, had promised to pay this sum on July 22, after a meeting between the two counterparts.
The money must be used to fight illegal immigration.
Darmanin reminded us: the surveillance of the French coasts requires “gendarmes”, “binoculars”, “4x4” and “drones”.
Reduce crossings to one stroke.
But "not a penny" was "paid to the French government", according to the Minister of the Interior.
It also calls for the establishment of a treaty with the European Union to confirm each other's positions.
Is the animosity reciprocal?
For its part, London believes that Paris does not limit sea crossings enough.
This weekend alone, the United Kingdom rescued or intercepted a total of 1,115 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
The attempts are massive: "15,400 migrants attempted the crossing between January 1, 2021 and August 31," counts Philippe Dutrieux, maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea.
Each year, the balance sheet increases.
In 2018, they were only 600 to attempt the journey.
If France has increased controls, it is insufficient, according to the British.
According to the Times and the Guardian, in particular, the British border police are now training to force illegal immigrants to return to French territorial waters.
“Blackmail”, according to Gérald Darmanin.
What are the other sticking points?
"Relations have particularly deteriorated since Brexit", explains Clémence Fourton, specialist in contemporary British civilization and lecturer at Sciences Po Lille.
Leaving the European Union gave rise to numerous, sometimes complicated negotiations between the two countries.
France, for example, requests 450 fishing licenses from the United Kingdom.
Only 275 of these were granted.
A decision unacceptable for the French government because last year, London had indicated that European fishermen could continue to go near the English coast, if they already did so before Brexit.
France in return threatened to reduce its electricity exports across the Channel, before calming the game.
The Hexagon is also offended by the participation of the United Kingdom in the affair of the submarines.
France was to sell 56 billion euros of these devices to Australia, before the United States won the contract, with the blessing of our British friends.
Read also Defense: Franco-British cooperation is (also) going through a zone of turbulence
Should we fear lasting cooling?
Illegal crossings, fishing licenses, French submarines ... The tensions accumulate, but this has been the case for a long time: "Each uses the other as a foil, in a tradition of permanent verbal jousting", recalls the specialist of British civilization Clémence Fourton.
In many aspects, the bickering is fine.
“Johnson's government is fully playing the card of national sovereignty.
He wants to show the conservatives and the British that the United Kingdom can have a new role outside of Europe, and for that, he is pulling out his muscles against his closest neighbor, ”summarizes the lecturer.
Gérald Darmanin also bombs his chest, to prove to the French that he is doing a lot on the migration issue.
“This very repressive speech is a way of positioning the majority and the president as the elections approach,” comments Clémence Fourton.
In other words, the two countries give voice, but above all they speak to themselves.
