Europe Declares Channel Migrant Crisis Its Problem, Unveils New Action Plan
The European Commission has unveiled a new action plan for Channel crossings, officially recognizing that the crisis is no longer just a Franco-British concern but a European problem requiring a coordinated bloc-wide response [180317].
The move comes as the current "one in, one out" bilateral migration deal between France and Britain is set to expire in October [180317]. That agreement, which limited how many migrants each country would accept, was recently rewritten after people smugglers found a way to bring deported migrants back to the UK using lorries, effectively creating a loophole that allowed individuals to re-enter Britain after being removed to France [179154].
Under the new European Union (EU) proposal, member nations would coordinate patrols, intelligence sharing, and asylum processing in an effort to reduce the number of dangerous small-boat crossings [180317]. France has long argued that the problem cannot be solved by two countries alone, and this action plan marks a major policy shift toward a broader, shared approach [180317].