As part of cooperation with the Department of Ille et Vilaine, and its annual artist residency in college, the Government of Jersey proposed, supported and coordinated a project combining artistic and linguistic practice.

Jersey artist Kiera Melville was selected for a 6-week residency with Year 9 pupils from Collège Moka in St Malo.

In the Olympic year, work around disabled sports was planned… but the verdict will be on the 6 June during the opening of the exhibition, to discover the work of the students, carried by the Jersey artist.

On 12 and 14 March, the Higher Education Fairs were held respectively in Jersey and Guernsey.

On March 12 in Jersey, Rennes Business School and the University of Caen (UniCaen) attended to the Higher Education Fair to promote a rich, varied and geographically close education to young learners of the island. On 14 March, the UniCaen team travelled to Guernsey to present at the Higher Education fair.

These relationships are formalized around a cooperation agreement, renewed in 2023 for Jersey. They enable students from the Channel Islands to come in Caen-Normandy and strengthen their language skills (DUEF) and then, if they wish, continue their university path in France, getting as close as possible to French culture, alongside other international students.

From Monday 12 February to Wednesday 14 February 2024, a delegation from the Channel Islands went to Paris to meet different political actors. Among them, French senators and deputies members of the study group on the Channel Islands (=APPG), the president of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Assembly, officers of the British Embassy in Paris, the British ambassador to the UNESCO and the Irish ambassador to France.

This delegation comprised the Minister of Sustainable Economic Development of Jersey, Deputy Kirsten Morel and the Member of the Policy and Resources Committee with responsibility for external relations in Guernsey, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq. Meetings took place in a warm atmosphere with relevant discussions on the future of cooperation with the Channel Islands.

Ministers prioritised the Channel Islands’ commitment to fostering positive relations with France and other European partners, while maintaining close cooperation across various shared interests. Both Guernsey and Jersey have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Normandy Region and La Manche Department, as well as with the Brittany Region and the Ille-et-Vilaine Department respectively.

Minister Kirsten Morel highlighted the enduring links between France and Jersey politically, culturally and historically, while emphasizing the importance of strengthening these connections with its nearest neighbour:

“Our discussions underscored the importance of regional cooperation between the Channel Islands and France and our joint commitment to further developing this collaboration. Additionally, we’ve engaged with principal political stakeholders in Paris discussing key areas of interest such as connectivity. This engagement allowed us to explore potential economic and commercial ties, working towards a sustainable and resilient future, for which France plays an important role.”

Reflecting on the visit, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq remarked:

“France is a key European partner, with whom we share historic, cultural and geographic links.  As Guernsey continues to develop its international identity and bilateral relations with partners around the world, this visit provided a timely opportunity to further strengthen our working relationship with the central authorities in Paris as part of our good neighbour policy, supporting the ongoing and positive engagement that we have with our regional partners in Normandy and Brittany. The visit enabled discussion on a range of issues that are priorities for Guernsey, such as energy and connectivity, on which we have shared interests with France. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our sister island of Jersey as we continue to further develop this relationship with our closest European neighbour.”

Since 23 November, the two fisheries of Jersey and Cotentin have obtained their third (2011, 2016 and 2023) “Sustainable Fishing” certification, an eco-label awarded by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an international environmental NGO which has been fighting since 25 years, against overfishing for the preservation of marine resources.

This is the only existing cross-border certification. For this certification, the experts rely on three major criteria:

• the limited impact of fishing practices on ecosystems, “fishing which is done using pots, placed on the bottom and which do not move”, specifies Caroline Gamelin, fishing manager for MSC.
• The efficient and responsive management system with, for example, verification of the number of pots on board vessels, the compulsory use of escape devices for juvenile lobsters,
• And the good health of the resource

“MSC re-certification, … is an international recognition of our good practices, the continuity of our commitments towards sustainable and responsible fishing, better still, the opportunity to look for increasingly reliable management models” says Marc Delahaye, director of the Normandy Regional Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming.

Jersey is pleased and proud to have received a recertification of the MSC Lobster fishery jointly held with Normandy. Recertification under the newer standard required evidence of good management and quality research data. Ensuring a sustainable lobster fishery is a key objective for the island’s fishing community and one that is supported fully by the Government’s Marine Resources team.

Hervé Morin, President of the Normandy region, visited the French Embassy in London. This visit aims to strengthen the historical and cultural ties that unite Normandy and England, initiate cooperation projects in view of the celebrations organized by the Region for the thousandth anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror in 2027 but also promote the next edition of the Normandy Impressionist Festival which will take place from 22 March to 22 September 2024 throughout Normandy.

Hervé Morin had invited his Jersey partners and was thus able to meet the Assistant Chief Minister (also Minister of Economic Development in charge of Culture), and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to reaffirm the wish to continue our cultural cooperation, and to discuss perspectives of joint projects to be carried out.

Guernsey has hosted the annual political summit with the departmental council of la Manche, the regional council of Normandy and Jersey.

The annual summit has been held since 2015, when a cooperation agreement was signed between Jersey, Guernsey, La Manche, and the then region of Lower Normandy. As part of the cooperation agreement, representatives from each jurisdiction meet each year to explore how they can work together.

During the summit, discussions covered various topics including post-Brexit issues such as fishing, customs & immigration matters; marine renewable energies; emergency planning; cultural links, such as language and education; and connectivity. Consideration was also given to broader political relationships and areas of mutual interest within Europe and the EU.

At the summit meeting Guernsey was represented by Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, member of the Policy and Resources Committee with responsibility for external relations; Deputy Neil Inder, President of the Committee for Economic Development; Deputy Rob Prow, President of the Committee for Home Affairs; Deputy Lindsay De Sausmarez, President of the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure; and Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture.

Jersey was represented by the Deputy Chief Minister, Deputy Kirsten Morel; Deputy Helen Miles, Minister for Home Affairs; and Deputy Jonathan Renouf, Minister for Environment.

The departmental council of La Manche was represented by its President, Jean Morin; the regional council of Normandy was represented by its Vice President, François-Xavier Priollaud in charge of international relations; and the Préfecture of La Manche, representing the French State in the region, was represented by the Prefect Xavier Brunetière and his Deputy Prefect Stéphanie Petitjean.

 

The French Department of Ille-et-Vilaine (St Malo/Rennes area) is offering a priority opportunity for one young person aged 18-25 from the Channel Islands to volunteer for the French civic service programme ahead of the Paris Olympics. The priority for the Channel Islands is only open until 15 August, after which time the opportunity will be opened more widely across the French Department of Ille-et-Vilaine.  The successful candidate will contribute to the organisation of sporting events in the region from November 2023 to June 2024, ahead of the Olympic Games next July.   The opportunity – organised and run in its entirety by the French Department of Ille-et-Vilaine – forms part of the Government of Jersey’s and States of Guernsey’s work to improve sporting ties with France.   The volunteer will be hosted by the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee (CDOS) of Ille et Vilaine ( http://www.le-sport35.com/ )   Criteria and conditions:

• The assignment is for a period of 8 months from November 2023 until the end of June 2024
• Open to any Channel Islander aged 18-25, passionate about sport. Applicants should practice sport (any, no restriction) and do not necessarily need to study it
• Fluency in French to be able to communicate is essential
• Volunteers will be accommodated in a youth residence (ex: Foyer de jeunes travailleurs, in a single room)
• The volunteer will also receive a civic service allowance of €489.59/month
• The volunteer will have to ask for a long stay French visa, which costs €99

Please find below a description of last year’s programme (in French): MISSION SERVICE CIVIQUE – CDOS 35 If anyone would like to apply or needs more information, they should contact: Sandrine Douaran (Chargée de mission Education, Citoyenneté, Olympisme) at sandrinedouaran@franceolympique.com .

 

On 15 June 2023 in Caen, the partnership agreement between Jersey Heritage, Guernsey Museums & Galleries and the Fabrique de Patrimoines was renewed for five years. The three structures have been joined by the Société Jersiaise, which is joining this partnership for the first time.

The cooperation was initially formalized in 2018 in Guernsey in order to facilitate communication and exchanges between the museums of the Normandy Museums Network and the Jersey and Guernsey museums. The Channel Islands being intimately linked to Normandy through their history, their archaeological, maritime and legal heritage – Norman customary law still being partly in force in the Channel Islands – formalized cultural cooperation was therefore obvious.

After several attempts of meetings aborted due to the pandemic, the representatives of the four structures were able to visit the Château de Caen, the Normandy Museum and the Bayeux Tapestry. This was followed by a visit to the Pegasus Memorial and the Pegasus Bridge, which after being damaged during the bombings of 1944, was temporarily replaced by a “Bailey” bridge, built by British soldiers, and in particular the famous Clive Kemp, a young Jersey soldier who had lied about his age to be able to go to fight and whose ashes now lie since 2019 at the foot of this bridge. They had landed in Sword Beach on the very morning of 6 June 1944 with the primary mission of building parallel temporary bridges to all the bridges that would be destroyed.

The delegation’s visit ended this Friday in Saint Vaast-La-Hougue, on the island of Tatihou.

The agreement was signed by the director of the Fabrique de Patrimoines, Carine Lavocat, the director of Guernsey Museums & Galleries, Helen Glencross as well as the director of Jersey Heritage, Jon Carter and the president of the Jersey Society, Rebecca Bailhache. It is the direct result of cooperation between the Normandy region, the Manche department, the Government of Jersey and the States of Guernsey.

Helen Glencross, Director of Guernsey Museums & Galleries said: “Guernsey Museums is delighted to be renewing our membership of the Normandy Museums Network. We welcome this exciting cultural collaboration and look forward to working with our partners in the future to celebrate our shared heritage”.

Jon Carter, director of Jersey Heritage, also rejoiced: “Heritage is sometimes about what is unique and distinctive about a place – more often it is about common ground, the stories we share and the identities that bring us together. The shared heritage of the Anglo-Norman Islands and the region of the Normano-Breton Gulf is exceptionally deep.  This cultural relationship goes back a very long way – but equally, it is vibrant and growing today. There are many opportunities to explore the shared cultural inheritance and we very much look forward to continuing to work with the Fabrique du Patrimoine network and Norman museum colleagues through this partnership.”

The president of the Jersey Society, Rebecca Bailhache was also delighted with the signing of the agreement: “The Société Jersiaise is delighted to sign this partnership agreement with La Fabrique, and we are keen to develop links with Normandy. We are fortunate to have links with France through our field archaeologist, librarian and photo archivist, so we see many opportunities for collaboration. We are also grateful to BIAN (Bureau of the Channel Islands) for organizing this alliance. »

For Carine Lavocat, temporary director of the Fabrique de patrimoines in Normandy: “We are enthusiastic about renewing this partnership with the heritage stakeholders of the Channel Islands. The Fabrique de Patrimoines is committed to facilitating cooperation between the museums of Normandy and the heritage actors of the Channel Islands, in line with the wishes of the network’s museum members. The signature of the convention and this first meeting between museums will allow, we hope, other actions of cultural cooperation between our territories.”

Guernsey has hosted the annual political summit with the departmental council of Ille-et- Vilaine, and for the first time has hosted a meeting with the regional council of Brittany.

During the summit, the governments of Guernsey and Jersey renewed their partnership (Memorandum of Understanding) with the departmental council of Ille et Vilaine for another three years. Jersey has enjoyed fifteen years of joint working with the departmental council and Guernsey officially joined the partnership in 2017. The Memorandum of Understanding facilitates joint working in a number of areas, including education, youth mobility, culture, arts, overseas aid, transport and trade.

Guernsey and Jersey have also signed for the first time a Memorandum of Understanding with the region of Brittany. This partnership will open discussions on economic development issues, education, and training, as well as maritime links encompassing transport, tourism, and relationships between ports and marine renewable energies.

The meetings covered many regional issues, as well as enabling discussions with regional partners on strategic issues such as broader political relationships and areas of mutual interest within Europe and the EU.

At the meetings Guernsey was represented by Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, member of the Policy and Resources Committee with responsibility for external relations; Jersey was represented by the Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, and Minister for External Relations, Deputy Philip Ozouf; the departmental council of Ille et Vilaine was represented by Michèle Motel, departmental councillor responsible for international solidarity and cooperation; the regional council of Brittany was represented by its Vice President, Daniel Cueff; and the Préfecture of Brittany, representing the French State in the region, was represented by diplomatic advisor Jean-Baptiste Chauvin.

Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, member of the Policy & Resources Committee in Guernsey with responsibility for external relations, said:

 “It was a great pleasure to host the annual summit of the governments of Guernsey and Jersey and the authorities of Ille et Vilaine, and to welcome representatives from the regional council of Brittany who joined these engagements for the first time.

Guernsey has important existing social and cultural links with the department of Ille et Vilaine and our annual summit gives us an opportunity to review the constructive and varied work carried out by our jurisdictions together during the year on matters covered by our partnership. Renewing this partnership for a further three years further underlines the value we place on maintaining and strengthening our relationship with the department. The summit also enabled us to reaffirm Guernsey’s continued support for joint overseas aid projects, through the collaboration of the Overseas Aid & Development Commission and the department of Ille et Vilaine.

I was also pleased to be able to sign a new partnership with the regional council of Brittany, which will enable us to deepen the connections that we have with the whole of this significant region to the south of us. In the French political system regions have different mandates and responsibilities to departments and so this new partnership will enable us to focus on new areas as well as build on our existing links, working with some of our closest neighbours. I look forward to the further development of projects under this cooperation agreement to the benefit of us all.”

 

Deputy Kristina Moore, Chief Minister of Jersey said:

 “I was very pleased to join our French colleagues in Guernsey for a Summit with the Department of Ille et Vilaine and the Region of Brittany, alongside the Minister for External Relations.

 “We spoke about several thematic issues of mutual interest, including maritime links, sport, and culture. We also renewed our existing partnership agreement with the Department and formalised links with the Regional of Brittany through the signing of a new agreement.

 “As a government we are determined to work together with our French counterparts to find positive outcomes for us all.”

 

Deputy Philip Ozouf, Minister for External Relations of Jersey said:

“I was very pleased to travel to Guernsey for the annual summit of the governments of Jersey and Guernsey and the Department of Ille et Vilaine, and for the first time to meet with partners from the regional council of Brittany.

  Jersey has a close and productive relationship with our cousins in Ille et Vilaine based on our shared history and personal connections. Since we entered into this more formal partnership, we have seen an increase in activity and projects across areas including culture and education. The fact that we are renewing our partnership is testimony to the enduring nature of our links and I look forward to working together on projects over the next three years.

  For the first time we signed a new partnership with the regional council of Brittany, which can only strengthen our existing relationships. I am excited about the opportunities that this will lead to for future collaboration. Our regional links with Brittany are very important to us and formalising this can only make our connection stronger.”

 

Jean Luc Chenut, President of the departmental council of Ille et Vilaine said:

 “It is with pleasure that I am alongside our partners in Jersey and Guernsey who do us the honour of welcoming us on the occasion of the annual cooperation meeting between our Department and the two Bailiwicks.

This is an opportunity for us to renew the partnership which materializes the friendship and close relations between our jurisdictions. The new cooperation agreement will give new impetus to the long-standing links between Ille-et-Vilaine and the Channel Islands on various themes: education, tourism, international solidarity and the environment in particular.

I am very attached to this collaboration and I wish to ensure the strengthening of these close and sharing ties that contribute to the enrichment of our respective jurisdictions over the long term.”

 

Loïg Chesnais-Girard, President of the regional council of Brittany said:

“While Brexit could have divided us, it has instead helped to bring the Channel Islands becoming closer to Brittany and Normandy. I thank our partners in Jersey and Guernsey for having favoured the path of dialogue and cooperation. I am convinced that this path will best defend the interest of all our citizens.”

 The President of La Manche, Jean Morin, has visited Guernsey this week on his first formal visit to the island since being elected President of the departmental council in July 2021. The visit provided an opportunity to discuss a range of topics of mutual interest, with a particular focus on environmental matters including energy, climate change, and active travel.

Guernsey has a strong relationship with Normandy and in particular the departmental council of La Manche. This is formalised through a cooperation agreement with Normandy, La Manche and Jersey, which covers four priority areas: governmental links; economic development, tourism and transport; education, sports, culture and heritage; and environment and marine renewable energy. Alderney and Sark are associate members of this agreement.

During the visit President Morin met with Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Policy & Resources Committee member with responsibility for external relations, and Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, President of the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure, as well as officers from the States of Guernsey and representatives of Guernsey Electricity. Discussions covered Guernsey and La Manche’s respective responses to climate change, energy generation and interconnectors, and active travel. The President was also able to see the ‘School Street’ initiative at St Martin’s Primary School and have a demonstration of the ‘Walking Cycling Guernsey’ app, which was released in 2019 to make information on Ruettes Tranquilles easily accessible to those out and about across the Island.