After the lulled shell and fish war this spring, it is now a conflict over migrants and inflatables. Since Brexit, Franco-British tensions have been rising, always at the territorial border: on and on the Channel. Last week, 27 migrants died crossing Calais and Dover; this year 26,000 migrants have already reached the other side. So strong border action is needed. But what and how? Both neighbors can’t figure it out.
Paris wants to show that it is not alone in the confrontations with the United Kingdom and that it has the backing of the entire European Union. Since the British departure, the Channel has been a shared European external border and France likes to instill that in everyone. Could EU border agency Frontex not supply a plane for patrols along the Channel coast? Fine, said the rest. Migrants also leave for Calais from the Belgian Panne; according to French authorities, many inflatables come from Germany and the smuggling gangs also operate from the Netherlands.
Already this summer However, a problem that was revealing to this neighborly dispute arose: the first rental aircraft Frontex arrived at had a British number plate. You see the startled French reaction: have they gone mad, “c’est absolutely inacceptable!”. With British material, the symbolic gesture would fall apart. Instead of showing European unity, the EU would show itself as dependent on those damn Englishmen.
Last Sunday, the French, Belgian, Dutch and German ministers for migration, meeting in Calais with the European Commission, Frontex and Europol, reached an agreement: from this Wednesday a European plane will patrol the Channel coast. A ‘victory’, said the French minister, as this solution does not rely on British equipment, technology or flag.
When two proud nations are at each other’s hair, it is not always possible for third parties to feel where arguments end and pure emotion begins. French-English conversations are never just about the issue itself. In the background there are always voices and sounds from a thousand years ago – Thatcher and Mitterrand, Churchill and De Gaulle, Napoleon and Wellington; murmurs going back to William the Conqueror, who came across the same Channel from Normandy in 1066.
Thus, the love-hate relationship between the French and the Englishmen, rather than between French and Brits, a later invented identity. The merging of the English and Scottish royal houses in one United Kingdom took place only in 1707 – well over six centuries after 1066. Enough time for a Hundred Years’ War with Joan of Arc in a leading role, for mutual claims to each other’s royal throne and for Shakespeare to turn it into theater again. In that long period of time countless Scots fought for and with the French against the English. Under the motto: your enemy’s neighbor is your best friend.
Much in the Franco-English relationship is reminiscent of jealous twins: both nations have a great deal in common, know each other through and through and maintain an enduring rivalry. Think of the chivalric culture that sprang from the same source, that courtly songs and the gentleman brought. At a powerful court, which yielded two centralized states and capitals Paris and London – bigger and richer than Rome, Madrid or Berlin. Two colonial empires in Africa, Asia and North America, allies in two world wars, now European military powers on the decline. And then there’s the sport: Wimbledon versus Roland Garros; the 2012 London Olympics (hijacked for rival Paris) versus the 2024 (in Paris: revenge beckons).
Also, France and the UK share a vision of Europe’s future with a political place for the nations. An essential difference with Germany, which – as witnessed by the recent coalition agreement – does not shy away from a “federal state”. Partly to counter the growing German power in the European Community, France lifted its veto on British accession in the early 1970s. Now that the UK is still outside the European club half a century later, Paris is looking elsewhere for counterplay opportunities.
Funny detail: when Prime Minister Johnson tweeted proposals for a joint approach the day after the disaster with 27 victims, this was also inconvenient for Macron – angry about the method. The French president was just in Rome, visiting Prime Minister Draghi. They solemnly signed on Friday a cooperation agreement between the French and Italian Republics, based on the special French-German friendship treaty from 1963. Now that the battle continues across the Channel, Paris is looking over the Alps.
Luke of Middelaar is a political philosopher and historian.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of December 1, 2021
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