France aims to intercept UK-bound migrant boats offshore as Channel crossings surge

PARIS (Reuters) -Faced with a growing number of Channel migrant crossings, France hopes to stop more small boats from reaching Britain by changing its rules of engagement to intercept vessels, France's interior ministry has said.

France and Britain hope to unveil the measures at next month's U.K.-France Summit, according to a French interior ministry document seen by Reuters.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK via the Channel had risen by 42% this year compared with 2024 due to favourable weather conditions, and new techniques to pack boats more tightly, France's interior ministry said.

French authorities are currently only able to save migrants if they encounter life-threatening danger at sea. The change in rules would allow authorities to intercept small boats up to 300 metres from shore.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said in a statement after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Canada this week that migration should be a key focus at the July summit given the deteriorating situation in the Channel.

Ahead of the summit, Macron will be in Britain for a state visit, during which he will meet with King Charles.

Ties between France and Britain have improved since Starmer took office last year, brought closer by shared concerns over Russian aggression toward Ukraine and the need to re-arm Europe as U.S. President Donald Trump plots a more isolationist position for the world's largest economy.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, editing by Ed Osmond)