Under the deal, France pledged to increase law enforcement on the coast by more than half to fight irregular migration to Britain — reaching 1,400 officers by 2029.

Britain will meanwhile provide up to €766 million in funding — though nearly a quarter of that will have strings attached and be paid only if the French measures work.

The cross-Channel neighbours have been wrangling for months over the renewal of the Sandhurst treaty, which sets out the UK’s financial contribution to French efforts to stop migrants attempting the perilous sea crossing in the hope of reaching Britain.

The UK has long accused France of doing too little to prevent would-be asylum seekers — a hot-button issue in British politics — from setting off from French shores, with smugglers and migrants taking ever-greater risks to avoid detection.

As a result, London insisted it would only renew the Sandhurst treaty — first signed in 2018, extended in 2023 and set to expire this year — if it could impose conditions on how British taxpayers’ money is used by the French government.

According to the French ministry roadmap, if the new measures do not deliver “sufficient results, based on a joint annual assessment, the funding will be redirected to new actions”.

Besides the step-up in law enforcement on the beaches, France is looking to deploy drones, helicopters and digital resources to “better prevent attempted crossings” and reduce the number of departures, particularly of “taxi boats”, the document added.

By the terms of the international law of the sea, once a boat has set off from shore, the authorities can only intervene to save people from drowning.

According to official figures from the British authorities, 41,472 people reached the UK irregularly in small boats in 2025, the second-highest figure since large-scale crossings were first detected in 2018.

At least 29 migrants died at sea in the Channel in 2025, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.