France and the United Kingdom will always be rivals and that is sometimes healthy, but in recent years – especially since Brexit – the acidity in the relations between London and Paris rose to a worrying level. President Emmanuel Macron will receive British prime minister Rishi Sunak on Friday to end this period. The countries no longer want to be frenemies, but work towards a real fraternal romance.
France and the UK have been embroiled in a neighbourly dispute in recent years: they clashed over fishing rights, the export of British Sausages, submarines and migration. The leaders threw mud at each other in front of the world. When Paris was surprised in 2021 by the creation of Aukus – a new security pact between America, the UK and Australia – and as a result lost an arms deal worth billions of euros with Australia, the then British prime minister Boris Johnson reacted with the condescending’donnez-moi un break ‘to the French protest. Former prime minister Liz Truss could not even answer the question of whether Macron was a ” friend or an enemy.”
With the arrival of Prime Minister Sunak in October, relations are better. What may also help is the character of both politicians: with 45 (Macron) and 42 (Sunak), they are both relatively young leaders, they worked in the banking world and were previously finance ministers. The two allow business and hard political interests to prevail over personal preferences.
Ukraine and migration
The British and the French have great concerns about the world, especially regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and migration. These issues will be a priority on Friday.
More and more migrants are trying to make the crossing to the UK from the French side of the channel – last year it was 46,000 in total. The British have long believed that the French are doing too little to stop migrants, but in november the two countries began what appears to be a collaboration. The French promised to do more to stop migrants. France doubled the amount of government staff at migration controls on the coast to 800. The British, in turn, increased their financial contribution for the French efforts.
It is possible that the two leaders will make new agreements to further limit illegal migration in the canal. Sunak may also want French backing for his controversial plan to deport boat migrants to another country, including Rwanda, and legally stipulate that they will never be able to obtain British citizenship.
Maritime patrols
The French also have a wish list. For example, Paris wants to work more closely with the British militarily. Paris wants to develop jet fighters with London and work together on the Ukraine dossier. The French also want to train more Ukrainian military with the British and conduct maritime patrols in the Pacific.
The countries do not expect that all the Folds will be smoothed out immediately on Friday, but that a start will be made. The’ priority ‘is to’ resume the joint working arrangements’, according to the Elysée.
And even if the leaders do not come out at all on Friday, new opportunities to improve relations arise in the short term. The British King Charles will visit France in two weeks, his first state visit as King. There he will be received by Macron, who has organized a state banquet at the Palace of Versailles.
