British ferries much cheaper
Controversy has been raging in the English Channel since Brexit
10/29/2022, 7:09 am
Ever since Britain left the EU, London has viewed the English Channel as international waters. This means that looser rules on working conditions on the ships apply to ferry traffic – to the detriment of French providers. The dispute is now fought at the highest level.
In France, resistance is forming against dumping competition from Great Britain for ferry services across the English Channel. The French Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs, Hervé Berville, recently announced at a meeting with shipowners that the Ministry of Transport wants to reach an agreement with the new British government on a common framework against social dumping as quickly as possible. “The social dumping practiced by some Channel shipping companies is unacceptable. These players are fighting a deadly battle,” said Berville. France will increase the control of the ships in the short term.
The focus of the protest is the British ferry operator P&O Ferries, which surprisingly laid off its entire crew in the spring and exchanged them for cheaper workers. The shipping company also operates the ferry service between Dover and Calais. As the newspaper “Le Figaro” reported, Irish Ferries, which sails under the Cypriot flag with low-paid crews, also entered the race on the English Channel connection in spring 2021. They also work much longer at a time than the crews of the French ferries. There should be no place for companies that fuel disloyal competition and a downward spiral in prices, said the State Secretary.
Since Brexit, the journey across the English Channel has no longer been an internal EU connection and the use of foreign crews is permitted on much worse terms. Although the French shipowners doubt whether the canal between Calais and Dover, which is only 28 kilometers wide, can be considered international waters, they are primarily relying on reasonable agreements with the British side. As the shipping newspaper “Le Journal de la Marine Marchande” reported, the British had already drawn up a framework agreement in July to protect seafarers who regularly head for Great Britain with their ships, regardless of which flag they sail under.