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EU referendum: France issues border checks warning to UK EU referendum: French minister sparks Calais UK border row
(about 1 hour later)
France could end UK border controls in Calais and allow migrants to cross the Channel if the UK leaves the EU, a French minister has suggested. A French government minister has sparked a row by suggesting his country could end UK border controls in Calais if Britain leaves the EU.
Emmanuel Macron told the Financial Times his country could also limit access to the single market and try to tempt London's bankers to relocate.Emmanuel Macron told the Financial Times his country could also limit access to the single market and try to tempt London's bankers to relocate.
His comments come as David Cameron and Francois Hollande prepare for security and migration talks in France.His comments come as David Cameron and Francois Hollande prepare for security and migration talks in France.
Leave campaigners dismissed the comments as "scaremongering".Leave campaigners dismissed the comments as "scaremongering".
Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin said "propaganda" was "being produced by other European governments at the request of the prime minister to try to scare people away from voting to leave".Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin said "propaganda" was "being produced by other European governments at the request of the prime minister to try to scare people away from voting to leave".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve had previously rejected claims by Mr Cameron that the border agreement with France would end if Britain voted to quit the EU.
He added: "We pay a great deal of money into the EU and it subsidises a great deal of French farming. Surprise surprise, they don't want us to leave the EU.He added: "We pay a great deal of money into the EU and it subsidises a great deal of French farming. Surprise surprise, they don't want us to leave the EU.
"But this is a choice for the British people, not for the French government, and actually we're being asked to believe all sorts of ludicrous things.""But this is a choice for the British people, not for the French government, and actually we're being asked to believe all sorts of ludicrous things."
British voters will be asked whether the UK should remain in the European Union or leave, in a referendum on Thursday 23 June. Conservative MP Peter Bone, of the Grassroots Out campaign, said: "If asylum seekers start arriving at Dover, we will send them straight back. As an independent nation, outside of the EU, we will control our own borders whether the French government likes it or not."
Mr Macron, France's economy minister, told the FT that if the British people voted to leave, it could bring to an end the agreement between the two countries that allows the UK to conduct border controls on the French side of the Channel. Migrants would then be checked on British soil, as they had been before the 2003 agreement with France was signed. The agreement between France and the UK that allows the UK to conduct border controls on the French side of the Channel is a bilateral treaty that is not connected to Britain's EU membership.
There are currently believed to be about 4,000 migrants amassed in Calais, hoping to cross to the UK. It is meant to stop people from travelling across the Channel without their immigration status being checked - but has led to the establishment of the so-called Jungle camp in Calais, where about 4,000 migrants are thought to be waiting to cross.
'Bankers' red carpet' On Monday, there were clashes as French demolition teams dismantled huts in the Jungle.
"The day this relationship unravels, migrants will no longer be in Calais," Mr Macron told the newspaper, adding that France would also roll out a "red carpet" to London's bankers if the UK voted to leave the EU. France could opt to end the border treaty any time - but the country's interior minister Bernard Cazenouve has said to do so would be "foolhardy" and cause "a humanitarian disaster".
He also said a country leaving the single market would "not be able to secure the same terms", and the EU's "collective energy would be spent on unwinding existing links, not re-creating new ones". His colleague, economy minister Emmanuel Macron, gave a different view in his FT interview, saying of Britain's EU membership: "The day this relationship unravels, migrants will no longer be in Calais."
It follows hotly disputed claims by Prime Minister David Cameron that migrant camps could move to England if the UK left the EU.
What are the arrangements with France?
The 'Treaty of Le Touquet' was signed in 2003 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy following riots at the Sangatte migrant camp near Calais.
It was meant to ease the pressure on Britain's border force from migrants attempting to board channel tunnel trains. The now defunct Sangatte camp had been set up in 1999 to house thousands of asylum seekers trying to get to the UK through the tunnel.
Under the Le Touquet treaty, French border police have immigration checkpoints at Dover, while the UK has immigration checkpoints at Calais and Dunkirk.
In theory this stops those seeking to reach the UK from doing so without their immigration status being checked first, but this has led to the establishment of a new generation of camps near Calais.
How is the UK-France border policed?
In his FT interview. Mr Macron also stressed that France would also roll out a "red carpet" to London's bankers if the UK voted to leave the EU.
He said a country leaving the single market would "not be able to secure the same terms", and the EU's "collective energy would be spent on unwinding existing links, not re-creating new ones".
The migration crisis is among topics expected to be discussed when the UK prime minister and French president meet in Amiens, northern France.The migration crisis is among topics expected to be discussed when the UK prime minister and French president meet in Amiens, northern France.
Mr Cameron has also previously claimed migrant camps could move to England if the UK left the EU - although his comments were dismissed as "scaremongering" by those campaigning for an EU exit, including his former Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
On Monday, there were clashes as French demolition teams dismantled huts in the part of the Calais migrant camp known as the Jungle.
AnalysisAnalysis
by BBC political correspondent Ben Wrightby BBC political correspondent Ben Wright
Into the already febrile referendum debate in Britain walks France - making it clear there'll be no special treatment for the UK if it votes to leave the EU in June. Downing Street is likely to welcome this warning from Emmanuel Macron.Into the already febrile referendum debate in Britain walks France - making it clear there'll be no special treatment for the UK if it votes to leave the EU in June. Downing Street is likely to welcome this warning from Emmanuel Macron.
This annual summit will begin with a commemoration at a British war cemetery to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, but the talks between David Cameron and Francois Hollande will be framed by the UK's referendum campaign.This annual summit will begin with a commemoration at a British war cemetery to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, but the talks between David Cameron and Francois Hollande will be framed by the UK's referendum campaign.
National security is now frequently cited by the government as a vital reason for remaining in the EU and the summit is a chance to hammer that message home. The foreign, home and defence secretaries will meet their French counterparts here too.National security is now frequently cited by the government as a vital reason for remaining in the EU and the summit is a chance to hammer that message home. The foreign, home and defence secretaries will meet their French counterparts here too.
But Leave campaigners have said free movement rules leave Britain more exposed to a Paris-style attack.But Leave campaigners have said free movement rules leave Britain more exposed to a Paris-style attack.
Mr Cameron and Mr Hollande are expected to emphasise their "relentless" determination to tackle extremism and terrorism at what is the first UK-France summit since last year's attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.Mr Cameron and Mr Hollande are expected to emphasise their "relentless" determination to tackle extremism and terrorism at what is the first UK-France summit since last year's attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.
The two leaders will commit to intensifying police and security co-operations and are expected to announce a £1.5bn investment in a new phase of building advanced drones.The two leaders will commit to intensifying police and security co-operations and are expected to announce a £1.5bn investment in a new phase of building advanced drones.
They will warn against an EU exit, saying membership offers more "security and greater capacity to project power".They will warn against an EU exit, saying membership offers more "security and greater capacity to project power".
Read more on the UK's EU referendum
Guide: All you need to know about the referendum
Referendum timeline: What will happen when?
The view from Europe: What's in it for the others?
More: BBC News EU referendum special
Meanwhile, writing in the Sun, Boris Johnson said it was time for Britain to "break free" from the EU.
He wrote: "Let us believe in ourselves again, rather than clutching the skirts of Brussels.
"Let us lift our eyes to the horizon and take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ignore the scaremongers, we are bigger, better and greater than they pretend."
What are the arrangements with France?
The 'Treaty of Le Touquet' is an agreement between France and the UK that has been in place since 2003 and governs border control arrangements and immigration.
The treaty ensures that immigration checks are carried out before passengers embark on cross-Channel services.
French border police have immigration checkpoints at Dover, while the UK has immigration checkpoints at Calais and Dunkirk. But at Calais and Dunkirk, passengers also go through French exit checks, as well as UK immigration entry checks.
In theory this stops those seeking to reach the UK from doing so without their immigration status being checked first, but this has led to the establishment of camps in Calais such as the so-called Jungle and previously, Sangatte.
How is the UK-France border policed?