International Air Display 2012, Jersey
 

Relationship with France

Given geographical proximity, historical links and a common heritage, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Channel Islands and France enjoy a strong relationship and work together in many areas.

Historically, the Islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy before the conquest of continental Normandy by French King Phillipe-Auguste in 1204. The defeat signalled England’s loss of continental Normandy that had been united with the English Crown since the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.

International Air Display 2012, Jersey
 

Current links

In the present day, links with France are abundant. The Islands are proud of the partnership agreements in place with various governmental and non-governmental bodies in France and the good working relationships they enjoy with a wide variety of French interlocutors. Guernsey and Jersey are pleased to be the focus of the French National Assembly’s Study Group on the Channel Islands, while the States of Jersey, the Island’s Parliament, is a proud participant in the work of the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie.

Elsewhere, both Islands enjoy good links with the French Embassy in London, which maintains French Honorary Consulates in both Guernsey and Jersey, and were proud to host an official visit by the French Ambassador in 2016. In the educational sphere, Guernsey’s Cercle Français and Jersey’s Alliance Français help improve islanders’ French language skills and promote French culture. Such cultural understanding is further enhanced by the large number of twinnings that exist between French towns and conurbations in the Islands.