The border between the countries of France and the United Kingdom in Europe is a maritime border that stretches along

the Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and the Atlantic Ocean. The

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

links the two countries underground and is defined as a 'land frontier', and not widely recognised as a land border. Channel Tunnel geological profile 1

It is defined by several international arbitrations from 1977, 1978, 1982, 1988 and 1991 for the maritime border and by the

Treaty of Canterbury (1986) The Treaty of Canterbury ( fr. ''Traité de Cantorbéry'') was signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, French President François Mitterrand and French Minister of Foreign Affairs R ...

for the channel tunnel.

Maritime border

Maritime boundaries between UK and France in Europe-fr

# (point A) # (point B) # (point C) # (point D) # (point D1) # (point D2) # (point D3) # (point D4) # (point E) # (point F) # (point F1) # (point G) # (point H) # (point I) # (point J) # (point K) # (point L) # (point M) # (point N) In 2003, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce '

juxtaposed controls Juxtaposed controls (in , or ; in ) are a reciprocal arrangement between Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom whereby border controls on certain cross- Channel routes take place before boarding the train or ferry, rather than ...

' (in French, ''des bureaux de contrôles nationaux juxtaposés'', or 'BCNJ') at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

on the British side and at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

on the French side. This means that, when travelling from Dover to France by ferry, French immigration checks are carried out by the Police aux Frontières on British soil before boarding the ferry, whilst French customs checks take place upon arrival on French soil. Zone portuaire calais phare

When travelling in the reverse direction from

and

in France to the UK by ferry, French immigration exit checks and British immigration checks both take place on French soil before boarding the ferry, whilst British customs checks take place upon arrival on British soil.

Land frontier

The Treaty of Canterbury () was signed by British

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

and Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, French

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

and Minister of Foreign Affairs Roland Dumas on 12 February 1986, and is the original document providing for the

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry l ...

between the two countries. The

is significant and unusual because it is a modern and recent modification to the national borders of the UK and France. The Anglo-French Treaty on the

was signed by both governments in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. The treaty prepared the concession for the construction and operation of the fixed link by privately owned companies. It outlines the methods to be used for arbitration in the event of a dispute. It sets up the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) which is responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the construction and operation of the tunnel on behalf of the British and French governments, together with a Safety Authority to advise the IGC. It draws a land frontier between the two countries in the middle of the

Channel tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

– the first of its kind.Eurotunnel 2005 Annual Review, accessed on 10 December 2007 In the 1991 Sangatte Protocol, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce '

' (in French, ''des bureaux de contrôles nationaux juxtaposés'', or 'BCNJ') at

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

and

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns reven ...

stations on immigration and customs, where investigations happen before travel. France is part of the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

, which has largely abolished border checks between member nations, but the United Kingdom is not. These

mean that passports are checked before boarding first by officials belonging to the departing country and then officials of the destination country. These are placed only at the main

stations: French officials currently only operate at London St Pancras but have previously operated at and , while British officials currently only operate at

Lille-Europe Lille-Europe station () is a SNCF railway station in Lille, France, on the LGV Nord high-speed railway. The station is primarily used for international Eurostar and long-distance SNCF TGV services, although some high-speed regional trains also ...

and Paris-Gare du Nord but have previously operated at Calais-Fréthun. There are security checks before boarding as well. For the shuttle road-vehicle trains, there are juxtaposed passport controls before boarding the trains.

Bibliography

* Georges Labrecque, « Les îles de l'Atlantique comme circonstances pertinentes à la délimitation des frontières maritimes », Norois, vol. 45, no 180 « L'Atlantique et les géographes », October–December 1998, p. 653–665 (DOI 10.3406/noroi.1998.6905), §1 « La frontière France/Royaume-Uni », p. 654–658.

References

External links

France-UK Border Research
A library of research and primary sources regarding the situation for displaced people at the France-UK border {{DEFAULTSORT:France-UK border International borders International border crossings

Maritime border

Land frontier

Bibliography

See also

References

External links