Early border controls on the English Channel

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Early border controls on the English Channel (in English only as juxtaposed controls , in French referred to as postes de contrôle juxtaposés , which literally means "controls lying next to one another" and thus does not adequately reflect the facts) denotes the forward shift of a process that normally only takes place in the destination country State of departure. Early border controls take place on many English Channel crossings before boarding the ferry or train. While adjacent border controls are not uncommon in international law in the area of road traffic border crossings, but then mostly take place at joint clearance facilities in the immediate vicinity of the border, the early border controls on the English Channel always take place on the opposite side of the Strait of Dover , sometimes far inland. In Avignon Center , around 1,000 km from the state border, the European legal requirements for early border controls have been created, but have not yet been carried out there regularly.

The early border controls are based on several agreements between Belgium , France and Great Britain .

history

With the planning of the English Channel Tunnel (official name in European law: connection through the English Channel Tunnel ; English cross-channel fixed link , French liaison fixe transmanche ) as a railway tunnel, considerations began to make the transfer from and to Great Britain as easy and pleasant as possible. Where the journey had to be interrupted anyway - namely when the vehicle hit the train - the border clearance should also take place at the same time. After the train arrives, it should be possible to continue the journey by quickly leaving the train without immigration controls hindering departure.

British fears of the consequences of a tunnel connection in satire form as early as 1885: General Wolseley , one of the fiercest opponents of a land connection with France, flees from the French rooster on a lion. The satire of the past and the reality of today are closely related: it used to be the fear of the French; today it is the fear of illegal immigrants from France.

With the abolition of border controls among the member states of the European Union through the adoption of the 1990 Schengen Implementation Convention (SDÜ) in the so-called Schengen acquis of the European Union, the need for border controls between Belgium, France and Great Britain, at least on the British side, did not disappear. Great Britain joined the agreements of a common area of ​​freedom, security and justice through the Treaty of Amsterdam only to a small extent and obtained numerous exemptions from Union law, which are now contained in Protocols 19, 20 and 21 of the Treaty reflect the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) . Great Britain is still allowed to carry out border and customs controls, including travel from other member states of the European Union, into its territory. Conversely, as long as these restrictions exist, the United Kingdom's neighbors have the same right.

Ireland has followed the UK and also does not participate in removal of internal border controls to the existing uncontrolled travel between the two countries, especially between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , in the uniform Travel Area ( English Common Travel Area ) not to compromise.

The original idea of ​​a smooth transfer through the Channel Tunnel changed in the face of migratory pressures on Britain . There have been repeated incidents with migrants trying to get to Great Britain through the Channel Tunnel. In December 2001, the French police stopped 550 people who tried to cross the Channel Tunnel on foot.

Great Britain was increasingly concerned with keeping illegal immigrants away from the island by means of early border controls , which is why it tried to extend the early border controls to the Eurostar and ferries.

Early border controls at the Eurotunnel car transfer

Plan of the railway facilities at Calais

On November 25, 1991, the Sangatte Protocol was signed by France and Great Britain, which for the first time provided for early border controls when using the Channel Tunnel with the Le Shuttle . The agreement, which came into force on August 2, 1993, meant that travelers from France who drive onto the Le Shuttle train are checked by the British border authorities in Coquelles , France, immediately after the French exit control. Conversely, the French immigration control takes place immediately after the British exit control in Cheriton , a district of Folkestone on the British side, before the train starts to drive.

In contrast to the early border controls at the Eurostar and the ferries, which only consist of border controls before checking in on the train and ferries, early border controls for Le-Shuttle transfers with vehicles consist of both a border and a customs control entering the train.

Early border controls at Eurostar

Belgian exit control and the British immigration control immediately behind it at Bruxelles-Midi station
Locations of the early border controls, in the distant future possibly also in Germany
Entry at an unusual Schengen external border in the middle of London: Eurostars passengers are checked by the French border police at St Pancras International train station before entering France.

The UK was particularly keen to extend early border controls to the Eurostar, given that many Eurostar passengers had illegally entered the UK over several years and a significant number of them applied for asylum on arrival . In the second half of 2000, about 4,000 passengers arrived at London Waterloo station without adequate entry documents. In contrast to air traffic, the French railway company SNCF had neither an obligation nor a practical option to check passengers for sufficient entry documents for Great Britain, and possibly for a visa , before boarding the train . An airline would be fined £ 2,000 (approximately: 2,500 euros) for every passenger brought into the UK without valid entry papers if they failed to check the travel documents for entry into the UK at check-in. Comparable controls are not common in cross-border rail traffic. The Eurostar was an easy way to get to the island and apply for asylum there.

On May 29, 2000, the additional protocol to the Sangatte protocol between France and Great Britain was signed, which provided for the establishment of French border inspection posts in Eurostars stations in Great Britain and vice versa of British border inspection posts at Eurostars stations in France. The additional protocol came into force on May 25, 2001.

When traveling with the Eurostar from France to Great Britain, passengers usually go through the exit control from the Schengen area as well as the British entry control since then before boarding the train, sometimes deep inland, far from the actual national border. In France, the stations at which such controls take place are Paris-Nord , Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe .

When traveling with the Eurostar from Marseille to London, the controls take place at Lille-Europe station, where passengers therefore have to get off and then get back on the train.

When traveling with the Eurostar from Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy to London, French exit controls take place at Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy station , while British entry controls take place at British arrival stations (Ashford, Ebbsfleet or London-St Pancras)

With the tripartite agreement of Brussels between Belgium, France and Great Britain concluded on December 15, 1993, the basis for early border controls was also laid in the Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid train station . In fact, the early border controls were only set up there after a further agreement with Belgium, which was concluded in London on April 15, 2004.

If people travel with the Eurostar from the United Kingdom to Belgium or France, the entry control into the Schengen area also takes place before boarding the train in Great Britain. Entry controls at British train stations are carried out by the French border police ( Direction centrale de la police aux frontières, DCPAF ) , which also works for the Belgian Federal Police ( Federale Politie, Police Fédérale ) with regard to passengers traveling to Belgium . Stations at which such controls take place are St Pancras International in central London , Ebbsfleet International , about 40 km east of central London on the Thames , and Ashford International , about 30 km northwest of Folkestone .

Customs controls on Eurostar passengers are not affected by the agreements and remain possible after arrival after leaving the train.

Liller loophole

The Liller loophole, known to the British public as Lille loophole, caused a stir . Migrants had realized that it was possible to board the Eurostar in Brussels with a ticket to Lille - uncontrolled by the British authorities. They pretended to be passengers with the destination Lille , the next stop of the train in France. They were not allowed to be checked by the British authorities as they were traveling across an internal border in the Schengen area . However, they had bought a second ticket for the journey to London-St Pancras and just stayed on the train in Lille. As a result, Great Britain tightened its entry controls in St Pancras. Great Britain signed a further agreement with Belgium which provides for an obligation on Belgium to take back illegal immigrants discovered in St Pancras who have come from Brussels on the Eurostar. However, the agreement has not yet entered into force (as of June 2015).

Early border controls on the ferries

UK border control at Dunkerque ferry terminal (France)

On February 4, 2003, France and Great Britain signed the Le Touquet Treaty , an agreement that provided for the establishment of early border controls for several ferry ports . The contract was implemented in UK national law in The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) Order 2003 . The agreement entered into force on February 1, 2004.

Great Britain is entitled under the agreement to maintain early entry controls in France at the ports of Calais , Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer . Here, passengers therefore go through both the French exit control and, directly behind, the British entry control before they get on the ferry. Conversely, the French authorities are entitled to set up entry controls at the port of Dover , where the French border police ( Direction centrale de la police aux frontières, DCPAF ) carry out controls for entry into the Schengen area.

Customs controls are not affected by the agreement and therefore take place after arrival in the destination country after leaving the ferry. It is therefore possible that after passing the British immigration control in France, passengers will be stopped and checked again by British customs officers on their arrival in Dover. Conversely, the French customs ( Direction générale des douanes et droits indirectly, DGDDI ) have the right to subject travelers arriving from Great Britain to a customs inspection.

A joint coordination center has been created in the port of Calais to strengthen cooperation between the British border control and the French border police and French customs.

There are no early border controls by the British in the Belgian seaports of Zeebrugge and Ostend . There, however, British liaison officers are active in freight controls in individual cases.

Status of the control zones in the host country

According to the agreements made, the control zones in the respective host country are not extraterritorial areas . The British control zones in Bruxelles-Midi and France are part of Belgian and French territory. The same applies to the French control zones in Great Britain, which are located on British territory. The sending state is only permitted to exercise sovereign border control functions there, to bring its personnel there or back from there freely and uncontrolled, to maintain electronic connections to the home country there, to carry service weapons with them when performing their duties and to bring in and out of the equipment free of charge to re-execute. Several agreements regulate the carrying of service weapons in the other country. French officials are only allowed to carry one gun with a maximum of 12 cartridges in the UK. Service weapons carried may only be used for self-defense. As far as British service vehicles cross over to France, they must have a neutral appearance.

Violations committed in the control zone are subject to the jurisdiction of the sending state. The host State may not punish the employee for acts committed in the exercise of official functions. Otherwise, the law of the host country applies.

Effects of the early border controls

British Border Force officials discover six illegal immigrants in a truck in Calais, in the British control zone. Their faces are made unrecognizable.
A Border Force sniffer dog in Calais helps detect stowaways in trucks.

Figures on the prevention of illegal entry into the Schengen area are not available. The following figures have become known for the opposite direction:

In the UK financial year 2002/2003, 2,442 travelers were refused entry to Great Britain by the British authorities at Paris-Nord and Lille-Europe train stations due to missing entry documents. During the same period, 2,232 people in Coquelles and 56 passengers in Calais-Fréthun train station were denied entry to the United Kingdom by the British authorities .

Between February 2004, when the Le Touquet Treaty came into force on February 4, 2003, and the end of 2007, 10,766 people were refused entry to the UK by British Immigration officials in Calais. Since then, the number of rejected immigrants has risen significantly: according to a report by the UK Home Office, a total of 10,916 people were employed in the UK financial year 2010/11, 9,632 in 2011/12, 11,731 in 2012/13 and 19,003 in 2013/14 Persons refused entry. The numbers are still increasing: from April to July 2014 alone, 11,920 people were turned away at the border. The figures above refer to both the early border controls in France and Belgium and the entry controls on the British coast.

Despite early border controls and improved control processes, the migratory pressure on Great Britain has not eased, but is rather increasing. Thousands of migrants camp in northern France with the sole aim of hopping on a truck and getting to England, where on the one hand they have relatives and on the other hand they hope to find employment more easily than in France. In September 2009, the French police disbanded the camps in Calais and asked the illegal immigrants to apply for asylum in France or to leave the country. In October 2014, the French police in Calais against 300 migrants went mainly from Sudan , Eritrea and Syria , with tear gas in front. They had tried to jump on trucks and hide in the holds on the way to England. At that time, a new migrant camp with around 1,500 to 2,500 people had formed in Calais, which later became the so-called Calais jungle .

criticism

Demonstration against the British border in Calais on June 27, 2009.

Early border controls are controversial in Belgium and France because they put Great Britain in the comfortable position of not having to admit asylum seekers in order to carry out the asylum procedure. According to the Common European Asylum System, in which Great Britain also participates, the state that the asylum seeker entered first is usually responsible for carrying out the asylum procedure (Art. 13 (1) Dublin III Regulation ). If this cannot be proven, responsibility falls to the state in which the asylum seeker is staying, at the latest after five months of uninterrupted residence (Art. 13 (2) Dublin III Regulation). If the illegal immigrants were apprehended on the British coast, France or Belgium or the state of first entry would have to take the asylum seeker back at the request of Great Britain.

Despite the general right to readmission, the early border controls prove to be extremely useful from a British point of view. Because once a migrant arrives in Great Britain, he would have to be taken in and cared for there and a readmission application would have to be made to France or Belgium or the country of first entry. Keeping an asylum seeker out of Great Britain from the outset releases the country from the considerable administrative and time expenditure of the readmission procedure, from the risk of having to take in the asylum seeker in the event that the entry route cannot be proven and, overall, from the provision of considerable reception capacities for Immigrants. If an asylum seeker applies for asylum in the British control zone in Calais, he will be transferred to the French authorities because the British control zone is French territory and the asylum application, even if it is made for another country (Great Britain), must be submitted to the authorities of the country of residence is to be provided (Art. 20 para. 4 Dublin III Regulation).

It remains to be asked how this preferential position, which France and Belgium do not have, can be justified, especially since the existing principle of reciprocity of early border controls is of no practical importance, since there is no flow of migrants from Great Britain to the Schengen area.

The early border controls have repeatedly led to resentment between Belgium, France and Great Britain. On the occasion of the discovery of the "Liller Loophole" and the pursuit of British border guards leaving the control zone assigned to them, the Belgian police asked them to return to their control zone. “ This has got to stop. You are not in Britain now, you are in Schengen. "(German:" This has to stop. You are not in Great Britain, but in Schengen. "), It said. They were told that if the suspects they questioned complained to the Belgian police, they would face arrest. A UK Border Agency official said UK staff were so scared of being arrested by Belgian police that they were more likely to turn a blind eye to more loopholes.

In France, French politicians have spoken out in favor of abolishing early border controls because they are tired of being blamed by the British for the flow of migrants to Great Britain. Calais has to pay for the conflict with the immigrants because the English border has been moved forward to Calais. England should move its border back to Dover so that they can see what's going on there. It is always easy to say to do this and that. The only destination of the migrants is Great Britain.

Early border controls by the British authorities in Germany

A German ICE at London's St Pancras station on October 19, 2010.

It is uncertain whether and when the British border authorities will set up early border controls in Frankfurt am Main , Cologne and Aachen on the occasion of the start of regular train connections to London in Germany . Due to delivery problems for new ICE 407 trains at Deutsche Bahn , this was previously not possible for technical reasons. Eurotunnel International is required to keep 25% of the tunnel capacity free for trains other than the French and British. Deutsche Bahn has now received the license to operate its own trains under the English Channel. A first test run of a German ICE through the Channel Tunnel took place on October 19, 2010 with success.

From other sources it can be heard that the start of ICE operation from Germany to Great Britain failed not only because of delivery problems with the train sets, but also because of Great Britain's previously unfulfilled wish to allow early border controls in Germany as well. Appropriate administrative preparatory work - e.g. B. the draft of a state treaty with Great Britain - nothing has become known so far.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See, for example, the agreement between the Federal Department of Finance of the Swiss Confederation and the Federal Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany on the establishment of adjacent border clearance points at the Neuhausen am Rheinfall / Jestetten border crossing of June 15, 2010 , which came into force on May 30, 2011.
  2. ↑ Update of the list of border crossing points in accordance with Article 2 (8) of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community code for people crossing borders (Schengen Borders Code) , accessed on May 15, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b List of French border crossing points to the English Channel . In: OJ. EU. C 167 of 4 June 2014, p. 9.
  4. ^ John Vine, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration: An Inspection of Juxtaposed Controls November 2012 - March 2013 , Report of the Independent Inspector (English), p. 3 (PDF; 558 kB).
  5. ↑ Art. 5 para. 1 of the Protocol between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic concerning Frontier Controls and Policing, Co operation in Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Mutual Assistance relating to the Channel Fixed Link , (PDF; 924 kB), Cm 2366, signed in Sangatte on November 25, 1991 (in force since August 2, 1993), in short: Sangatte protocol (English).
  6. ^ Protocols to the TFEU. In: Official Journal of the European Union . C 326, October 26, 2012, p. 201 ff.
  7. ↑ See the authorization in Art. 2 of Protocol No. 20 to the TFEU. In: Official Journal of the European Union. C 326, October 26, 2012, p. 293 ff.
  8. ^ French police stop hundreds of refugees , FAZ report from December 26, 2001, accessed on January 8, 2015.
  9. ↑ John Denham (chairman) in: Great Britain Parliament, House of Commons, Home Affairs Committee: Immigration control , (Vol. 2) Written evidence, July 2006, p. EV 105, No. 3.4.2 (English), preview in the google book search
  10. ↑ Protocol between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic concerning Frontier Controls and Policing, Co operation in Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Mutual Assistance relating to the Channel Fixed Link , Cm 2366, signed in Sangatte on November 25th 1991, (PDF; 924 kB), in force since August 2, 1993 (English).
  11. ^ Remarks by Lord Bassam of Brighton in the British Parliament on March 16, 2001 (English).
  12. ^ Additional Protocol to the Sangatte Protocol on the Establishment of Bureaux Responsible for Controls on Persons Traveling by Train between France and the United Kingdom (French and English versions) , signed in Brussels on May 29, 2000, Cm 5015; implemented into national law of Great Britain by No. 1544 The Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) (Amendment No. 3) Order 2001, dated April 22, 2001 .
  13. ^ Announcement of July 20, 2001 in The Gazette . (English)
  14. ^ Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the French Republic concerning Rail Traffic between Belgium and the United Kingdom using the Channel Fixed Link , closed in Brussels on 15 December 1993, Cm 3954, (“the Tripartite Agreement”), with protocol annex (English); in force since December 1, 1997, available on the web archives page of the British National Archives, entry with the link http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf21/fco_ref_ts23-98_belfrarailtraf (not directly available) .
  15. ↑ List of Belgian border crossing points to the English Channel , OJ / EU C 316 of 28 December 2007, p. 1.
  16. ↑ UK's border checks extend to Brussels - British border controls extended to Brussels , report from The Daily Telegraph , online, April 16, 2004, accessed January 10, 2015.
  17. ↑ a b c Illegals immigrants can exploit 'Lille loophole' to get in to UK on Eurostar , report from The Daily Telegraph, online, December 8, 2011, accessed January 10, 2015
  18. ^ Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, concerning Immigration Controls on Rail Traffic between Belgium and the United Kingdom using the Channel Fixed Link , (PDF; 222 kB), Cm 8807, completed in London / Brussels on 3./18. December 2013 (English); not yet come into force (as of June 23, 2015).
  19. ^ Treaty between the French Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Implementation of Frontier Controls at the Sea Ports on the Channel and North Sea , signed in Le Touquet on February 4, 2003 (English), Cm 6172, accessible via the web archive page of the British National Archives, entry with the link INDEX TO TREATY SERIES 2004 CM 6608 (not directly available) .
  20. ^ The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) Order 2003 No. 2818 of November 4, 2003 (PDF; 77 kB) (English).
  21. ↑ Declaration on the results of the British-French government summit on November 2, 2010 in London , (PDF; 19 kB) (English).
  22. ↑ UK Government's response of November 20, 2014 to a parliamentary question, accessed on January 12, 2015.
  23. ↑ Art. 3 of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the French Republic concerning the carrying of Service Weapons by French Officers on the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , ( PDF; 121 kB), completed in Le Touquet on February 4, 2003 (English), Cm 6604, in force since March 10, 2005.
  24. ↑ Art. 6 of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the French Republic concerning the Carrying of Service Weapons by the Officers of the UK Border Agency on French Territory in Application of the Treaty concerning the Implementation of the Frontier Controls at the Sea Ports of Both Countries on the Channel and North Sea , (PDF; 228 kB), closed in Paris on May 24, 2011, Cm 8117, in force since May 24, 2011, and Art. 7 of the Agreement of February 4, 2003.
  25. ↑ Art. 12 para. 5 of the agreement of May 24, 2011.
  26. ↑ Art. 4 of the protocol annex to the agreement of the Brussels Agreement of December 15, 1993.
  27. ↑ Art. 14 para. 2 of the protocol annex to the agreement of the Brussels Agreement of December 15, 1993.
  28. ↑ UK Government's answer to a parliamentary question dated July 7, 2003, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  29. ↑ Written declaration of the (British) Home Office on the occasion of the visit of the Parliamentary Committee “European Union” in Coquelles and Calais on January 8, 2008 of January 16, 2008 (English), accessed on January 10, 2015.
  30. ↑ a b Number of clandestines detected at the juxtaposed controls and at UK ports from 2010 to 2014 , (PDF; 7 kB), dated December 18, 2014, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  31. ^ Migrant camp in Calais - excavators against refugees , SZ report from September 22, 2009, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  32. ↑ Police in Calais use tear gas against refugees , report by the NZZ from October 20, 2014; Stranded refugees in Calais - end of the line hope , report in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten of October 28, 2014; Calais groans under the onslaught of refugees , The Wall Street Journal reported on November 23, 2014; all accessed on January 8, 2015.
  33. ^ Move border checks back to Britain, say French politicians amid new Calais migrants crisis , report from The Daily Telegraph, online, August 4, 2014, accessed January 10, 2015
  34. ↑ Rail plans for the ICE to London waver , message from Aachener Nachrichten of May 20, 2011, accessed on November 10, 2018.
  35. ↑ ICE will travel to London in 2016 at the earliest , report in the Stuttgarter Zeitung dated December 13, 2013, accessed on December 31, 2014
  36. ↑ Decision of the Commission of December 13, 1994 in proceedings under Article 85 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (IV / 32.490 - EUROTUNNEL) , OJ. L 354 v. December 31, 1994, p. 66.
  37. ↑ Deutsche Bahn is allowed to use the Eurotunnel , ZEIT report from June 15, 2013, accessed on December 31, 2014.
  38. ↑ ICE passes Eurotunnel for the first time , ZEIT report from October 19, 2010, accessed on December 31, 2014.
  39. ↑ Gernot Zielonka: Deutsche Bahn is giving up London plans for the time being ( memento from November 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), message in DMM Mobility Manager from February 20, 2014, accessed on January 9, 2015.