British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are reportedly in talks to announce a "one in, one out" migration trial deal on Thursday, which will see the UK taking in some asylum seekers while sending others back to France, local media reported on Thursday.
The trial scheme, first reported by French outlets on Wednesday, would involve returning up to 50 small boat arrivals to France each week.
France will accept the returned migrants in exchange for the UK taking in an equal number of asylum seekers who have family ties in Britain.
If successful, the trial will be ramped up significantly, sources told Le Monde newspaper.
The leaders were still in discussions over the details of the agreement on Thursday morning, including the start date of the trial deal.
Possible challenges to the agreement include how much the UK is ready to invest in policing small boats, potential legal challenges in France, as well as possible opposition from other European countries.
The UK has pressured France to change its approach to small boat crossings in the English Channel.
A loophole in French law prevents authorities from intervening once migrants are at sea, allowing police to act only within 300 metres of the shore — unless a rescue is required.
British politicians have been urging French police to take firmer action against boats after they leave the shore, including backing law enforcement in immobilising them, as seen in recent footage of officers using knives to puncture a rubber dinghy near Boulogne in northern France.
In February, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he was open to amending the law to allow police to intervene.
French police are reportedly seeking additional funding to cover the costs of boats, police officers and drones needed to enforce the change, which may also face legal challenges.
In an interview with the BBC, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal was yet to be confirmed, but that the two countries have "the understanding and acceptance that this is a shared challenge for the first time."
The announcement is set to take place at the end of a three-day state visit — the first by a head of state of an EU member country since the UK formally left the European Union in 2020.
Cooperation on stopping illegal migration across the English Channel stalled after Brexit, but in the past few years the two sides have struck several deals that saw the UK paying France to increase police and drone patrols of the coast.
On Wednesday, the two leaders agreed that tackling small boat crossings is a "shared priority that requires shared solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model" of people-smuggling gangs, according to Starmer's office.
They would aim for “concrete progress” on Thursday.
