On 19 March 2024, the Secretary of State for the Sea and Biodiversity signed the decree implementing in France the law against social dumping practised by some cross-Channel maritime transport operators. The aim of this law proposal, which was voted on in July 2023 and put forward in France by Didier Le Gac, MP for Finistère, is to put an end to illegal working conditions under French labour law by imposing a minimum wage and a maximum time on board.

Indeed, since the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, some British ferry companies have been sailing under foreign flags and employing their sailors under social conditions far from the social models in force in France and the United Kingdom.

The implementation of this legislation will enable the Maritime Affairs Department to check on ships crossing between France and the UK and to apply administrative and criminal penalties in case of non-compliance with French and European law.

Getlink and its subsidiary Eurotunnel have worked hard, alongside Brittany Ferries and Armateurs de France, to ensure that French and British labour law is respected in the territorial waters of both countries and that healthy and fair competition is re-established, whilst respecting the human conditions of the seafarers employed on these ships.

With 1.2 million trucks transported on board LeShuttle Freight shuttles, and more than 2.2 million light vehicles on LeShuttle shuttles in 2023, Eurotunnel is the leading operator in cross-Channel traffic, holding 36% and 58% market share respectively, thanks to its quality of service: fast, reliable, safe and environmentally friendly.