Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May will sign a treaty on Thursday increasing Britain’s contribution towards preventing migrants in Calais from crossing the Channel and speeding up the asylum process for those entitled to claim refuge in the UK.



The agreement aims to strengthen an accord known as Le Touquet, signed in 2003, which moved the British border to France. This will remain in force.

The two leaders will also announce closer cooperation in defence, security and cultural exchanges, including the possible loan by France of the Bayeux Tapestry some time after 2020.

This last element of the 35th Anglo-French bilateral summit, to be held at Sandhurst military academy, was described as “very symbolic” for both countries.

Macron had been seeking an overhaul of the Touquet accord, saying France could no longer be Britain’s “coastguard” without concessions from the UK to help ease the migration crisis on France’s Channel coast.

Q&A What is Le Touquet? Show Hide Signed at a 2003 summit, the bilateral Le Touquet accord provides for “juxtaposed border controls” at French and British seaports, essentially moving the French border to Dover, and the UK border to Calais. French feeling has been rising against the accord for some years because it leaves France to cope with the thousands of migrants and refugees trying to reach Britain who remain stuck, in squalid conditions, on the north French coast.

As a bilateral agreement the accord is not directly affected by Brexit. But politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron, have called for its renegotiation. “If the English want to take back their freedom, they must take back their border,” was how Xavier Bertrand, the leader of the Hauts-de-France region, put it. The UK says it has provided more than £120m to France since 2015 to help pay for security and other costs in and around Calais, including detection technology, a command and control centre, extra manpower and a 5m (15ft) fence along the motorway leading to the port. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/X00234

Under the new, legally binding treaty, Britain will agree to accelerate procedures for accepting legitimate asylum seekers currently blocked in Calais, including those seeking to rejoin their families in the UK and unaccompanied children, and will pay more for transport security and maintaining the border in the French port.

Élysée officials said drawing up a new treaty to address “important weaknesses” in the Touquet agreement was quicker than revising the existing document. The deal would also open discussions on possible British financial support for the Calais region, they said.

“We have to send the signal that the border [at Calais] is not open or porous”, the Élysée said, echoing Macron’s message during a trip to the Channel port on Tuesday.

Officials said France was anxious not to prejudice Brexit negotiations on any future relationship between the UK and the EU, but was determined that Anglo-French ties “must not be weakened”. France hopes that Britain, described as a “vital” defence partner, will continue to play a strong role in European defence cooperation after Brexit, if not via a “special status” with the EU then through its ties with France.

Macron is travelling to London with seven ministers or secretaries of state covering defence, interior, foreign and European affairs, Europe, culture, economy and ecology. The Élysée said representatives from both countries would discuss “defence, intelligence and security … the pillar of bilateral relations”.

Britain and France will reaffirm their determination to cooperate on the joint development of military hardware, including combat drones, and announce a “very significant” increase in Britain’s operational support for French military operations in the Sahel region in Africa and a contribution of “several tens of millions of euros” to the Sahel Alliance, a French-led development initiative.

The Élysée said discussions about Brexit were not on the agenda. A presidential adviser said France would “look with kindness” on any decision by Britain to reverse the course of Brexit and remain in the European Union.

“If tomorrow, or the day after, the United Kingdom decided to change its mind, it’s clear that we would look at this with kindness. But it’s not up to us to say if the UK wants to change its mind.”

May and Macron will announce bilateral agreements on student exchanges, town twinning and further cultural exchanges.

The Bayeux Tapestry, which is nearly 70 metres long and 50cm high, depicts the Norman conquest of England when William, the French Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Its origins are hotly disputed, and it is not in fact a tapestry but a long woven and embroidered cloth.



Quick guide The Bayeux tapestry Show Hide The Bayeux tapestry is a graphic depiction of the Norman buildup to, and success in, the Battle of Hastings in 1066. In a series of scenes told in 70m of coloured embroidery and Latin inscriptions, it shows how William the Conquerer crossed the Channel to seize the English crown from King Harold. Commissioned by William’s half-brother Odo, it is an early example of history being written, or in this case embroidered, by the victors. It shows vivid and often gory battle scenes between two sides clearly identifiable by their haircuts: the English with shoulder-length hair and moustaches fighting the clean-shaven Normans with short back and sides. Highlights include an appearance in the sky of Halley’s comet, seen as a bad omen for Harold, William’s dragon-headed ships crossing the sea and the death of Harold after being shot through the eye with an arrow. Photograph: Alinari/REX/Shutterstock/Rex Features

Élysée officials said the proposed loan by France to Britain was under discussion and would be unlikely to happen before the 2020s, when the Bayeux Museum where the work is on display will undergo renovation. “It [the cloth] is extremely fragile and must itself be restored before it can be moved,” said an official.

It would be the first time the Unesco-listed work has left France in 950 years. “It’s very symbolic for France and perhaps even more so for the UK,” a French official said.

After the summit and a press conference, Macron and May will attend a reception at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.