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Bloomberg
France is preparing to offer Boris Johnson proposals for an agreement with the European Union (EU) on migration, less than a week after Emmanuel Macron slammed the UK premier for not taking the issue seriously enough.
Prime Minister Jean Castex was expected to write to Johnson to suggest they work on
a pact with the EU after at least 27 people died crossing the channel to try and reach the UK. “We want a balanced deal offering real solutions including to the problems of France and Europe,†France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin said. “We don’t want a mere unilateral accord.†Spokespeople for Castex didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain, told reporters that the prime minister has yet to receive the letter, but the UK wants to work “constructively†with France on the migration issue and that talks are ongoing at an official level. In an exchange of barbs since the tragedy, British officials have said Macron wasn’t doing enough to stop the crossings and the French have countered that UK labour market acts as an incentive to try to reach the country.
Darmanin scrapped planned discussions with his UK counterpart Priti Patel because Johnson had made the contents of a letter he wrote to Macron outlining a proposed returns agreement public in a series of tweets. Macron, meanwhile, said France wouldn’t work with the UK government until it “decided to be serious.†The tensions add to a list of existing disputes on range of issues from defense to the granting of fishing licenses.
Immigration is a particularly sensitive topic both in France, where it’s a main theme of campaigns for the April presidential election, and the UK because Johnson pitched tighter border controls as a benefit of Brexit.