Overview

• The agreement, signed on July 10 by Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, would return Channel arrivals in small boats to France in exchange for an equal number of legal admissions from France to the UK.
• Brussels must now review the deal under EU law, with the European Commission evaluating its legal and operational modalities before it can take effect.
• UK authorities plan initial operational tests in the coming weeks, though the proposed figure of 50 returns per week remains unconfirmed and broader logistics are unresolved.
• Hauts-de-France leaders, including Xavier Bertrand and Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, argue the scheme shifts migrant pressure onto their territories without sufficient consultation or support.
• Humanitarian groups such as the British Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières call the pilot dangerous and ineffective, and five southern EU states have expressed concerns about potential onward transfers.