Franco-British Relations
Do you think France and Britain get along?
In 2022 is their relationship stronger or weaker than usual?
About 55% of goods that leave Britain on trucks go through France. It’s a key trading partner for the UK.
In 2019, before the pandemic, 3.6 million French people visited the UK. In the same year, how many Brits visited France?
12 million British people visited France in 2019. Why do you think the number is so much higher?
Boris Johnson didn’t get along with Macron. Most European leaders didn’t trust Boris.
In 2022 Liz Truss was asked by the media if French President Macron was a friend or foe.
foe = enemy / rival
What do you think she answered?
She answered “The jury’s out” which means: “a decision hasn’t been made”
How do you think Macron responded when asked about Truss’s comments?
He said: "The United Kingdom is a friendly, strong and allied nation, regardless of its leaders, and sometimes in spite of its leaders”
Truss was the Foreign Minister before she became Prime Minister. Most European leaders didn’t trust her because she “changed her mind” (= lied) so often
Recently France and the UK have been arguing over post-Brexit trade deals, fishing rights and migrant crossings
Trade issues
Brexit supporters have blamed France and the EU for their failings to sign trade deals for the UK. The reality is probably that Britain isn’t in a strong position to negotiate and shouldn’t have left the EU…
Goods and people are allowed to freely move inside the EU. When the UK left, what problems did this create for the UK?
Now people’s passports and trucks and cars need to be checked when crossing the border. Sometimes drivers have been waiting for up to 11 hours!
The Conservative British government blames the lack of staff in France.
France blames the new rules because of Brexit.
Fishing rights
Now fishing licenses are needed by fishing boats on both sides to fish in the other country’s waters.
Jersey, a small island close to France but controlled by the UK, refused to or was taking too long to give licenses to French fishermen.
French Fisherman started blocking ports in protest.
France threatened to cut all power to the island.
A french fishing boat rammed an English boat in protest.
The navies from both countries were sent to deal with the situation.
Channel Crossings
How many people do you think try to illegally enter the UK on boats from France each year?
2019 = 1,900
2020 = 8,404
2021 = 28,526
Why do you think the numbers are rising so dramatically?
English
coronavirus
war
family/friend connections (more than half said this)
What countries do you think the people are from?
In 2021:
30% = Iranians
21% = Iraqis
11% = Eritreans
9% = Syrians
In 2021 due to the high numbers of people crossing the Channel, The UK offered to send British police to patrol French beaches. How did France respond?
Of course France rejected the offer. They said it would breach French sovereignty.
Now Rishi Sunak is Prime Minister. He’s said he wants to fix the relationship with France. What should he do?
What countries does Japan have bad relationships with?
What can be done to fix the relationships?