President Mitterrand (English version)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to inform you that Great Britain and France in accordance with … . have today decided to link their two countries by a twin-bore tunnel under the Channel for rail traffic and shuttle trains for motor vehicles. Later, a road link should be built (applause).
Prime Minister
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The United Kingdom and France have decided today, on the basis of reports by experts, to link their two countries by a twin-bore tunnel under the Channel for rail traffic and motor-vehicle shuttle trains. Later, a drive-through link should be built. (applause)
President Mitterrand
Madame, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are now addressing ourselves to you and particularly to the press, to give you some additional information and I would like to indicate right now that the two governments [end p1] chosen the Channel Tunnel Group. It is a twin-bore rail tunnel with shuttle trains for motor vehicles. The … . undertaking to construct a road line by the method that he chooses … details will be given to you later on the actual people involved on the British side and the French side, the actual names that will be involved in the building and the financing.
30 billion francs approximately is the total estimate for … . operating costs … . I am sorry, no, the refinancing costs during the construction period, the total being therefore about 52 billion francs.
Some of the technical characteristics of the project are, I think, of interest right now. Two tunnels, twin tunnels, bored, 7.3 metres diameter, with a technical sub-tunnel between them and this will enable direct trains to go through belonging to the two national railway companies and also traffic lanes on the French and British side … . two shunting tunnels … . loading motor vehicles … . the motor vehicle crossing would take 30 minutes and estimates for passenger traffic for 1995 is estimated … . 25 million passengers. …
There you have some technical information, but the main thing is that from today onwards two neighbouring countries and friendly countries, both of them with a great history [end p2] behind them and whose role and part in history is known to everyone and in the present too, not only in relation to the construction of Europe but also in world history, these two countries will have a new link, because it is a fixed link—a new link, and one should not underestimate the genuine importance and also the symbolic importance of this link.
I would like to thank Mrs. Thatcher and the British Government for such an act. I think this is an act that shows not only obvious goodwill but also expresses one might say a grandiose vision of the future. The results will be extremely fruitful for our peoples and while it is being built tens of thousands of jobs will be created on both sides and this will contribute to the recovery and also the economic success of our two countries and perhaps the whole of Europe will in fact be led to travel through our countries in order to know them better and also for their trade and this I think emphasises in a few words the importance in our eyes of this ceremony here today and, Madam Prime Minister, I want to say how very much we appreciate that you yourself should be here today in our midst and the reason behind this visit will, I think, strike people's imaginations, but will also be an important political reality, a geographical reality, a practical reality in its own right, and an economic reality and through the great series of undertakings which will be very significant at the same time there is a form of culture that is in fact a way of visualising the future.
We will have time to come back to these subjects but [end p3] I wish you to appreciate, and particularly you Prime Minister, that we want you to be assured that France is indeed very happy of this new opportunity in a world which is not an easy world; an opportunity of indicating that when one has the determination then one can always manage to get together to link peoples; that there are so many reasons for them to be together. (applause)
Prime Minister
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are agreed that this is a historic occasion. After well over a century of discussion and hesitation, our two governments have now decided to facilitate the construction and operation of a channel fixed link.
We have decided that the Channel Tunnel Group … . scheme should go forward to the markets and I am sure we have chosen wisely.
Today's decision is a dramatic step in Anglo-French cooperation.
The project we have agreed upon will have immense significance for trade and communications between our two countries. It is also important for the enormous opportunity we are giving to the private sector to demonstrate their abilities and their enterprise in a project of the utmost public importance. We are calling upon a wide spread of expertise in construction. We are also offering the opportunity for lenders and investors, not only in France and [end p4] in the United Kingdom, but worldwide, to support the project. While it is for investors to decide, we believe that the scheme selected will prove attractive to the public and to transport undertakings.
The two governments have selected the scheme which stands the best chance of getting financial support. I also believe our decision will be seen by the British and French public more generally, as you have said Mr. President, as a farsighted one on the part of our governments.
I know that in the areas which will be most directly affected—Kent in the United Kingdom and the Nord Pas de Calais in France—there has been genuine concern about the benefits a link will bring. Let me assure the people of those areas that we have looked with the greatest possible care at the environmental consequences of a link and we believe that the Channel Tunnel Group France-Manche scheme can be carried out respecting the surroundings of these areas. Let me also assure them that the question of local prosperity has been very much at the front of our minds. Not only will construction of a link provide significant employment; I have no doubt the link in operation will act as a magnet to those areas. [end p5] MT concluded her statement at the Press Conference in French. Her words were not transcribed by the Col but it is likely that she read the following text:
Nous anticipons le jour, même plus éloigné dans l'avenir, en l'an deux mille au plus tard où les promoteurs se sont engagés soumettre un projet supplémentaire pour passer au stade d'une liaison routiere directe reliant les deux pays. [end p6]
Le projet sur lequel nous nous sommes mis d'accord aujourd'hui n'est pas notre dernier mot.
Ce n'est qu'un premier pas.
— Monsieur le Président, je crois fermement que ce grand projet que nous avons conclu aujourd'hui, sera jugé passionnant:
— passionnant parce que c'est une ré-alisation nouvelle
— passionnant parce que c'est une grande entreprise
— passionnant parce que c'est un ouvrage digne de notre époque et des aspirations des peuples de nos deux pays.
Avant tout, c'est un défi.
Espérons que nos ouvriers, nos entreprises, nos nations, s'élèveront sa hauteur.
Applause
Press Conference transcript continues: [end p7]
Question (Michael Brunson, ITV)
May I begin by asking if you could give us some more details, both of you, about the envisaged building of the road tunnel. It is generally assumed that you, Prime Minister, would have liked to have had a road tunnel straight away.
What are the provisions for a road tunnel? When you say “it should be built” , does that mean that it must be built by the consortium?
President Mitterrand
That is what we would wish and that is what we expect, but all that depends on factors which are not entirely under our control because we are dealing with private consortia and therefore we have expressed a determination on our part and have said that if at the end of 15 years the project had not started, then the group of the consortium that has got the concession will lose it. This therefore indicates as much as we can at present the direction that we intend to follow, but in any case, in view of the fact that we have launched this great project, it is not simply to stay at that and not go any further.
Question (In French)
Could this choice be brought into question if a new government in France came into power before the signature between the two States? [end p8]
President Mitterrand
Well, between now and 1993, which is the foreseeable date for the end of the work, at any rate according to present forecasts, the chances are that between now and 1993 there will be new governments, new parliaments, but you never know, of course, you never know!
The word of the United Kingdom and the word of France commit our two countries beyond … . that is international law … understood in civilised nations.
Question (Television South)
Prime Minister, may I ask you if you have have preferred a straight-through road tunnel or road bridge from the very beginning, rather than the shuttle service?
Prime Minister
… the number of technical problems which have to be solved on any other scheme, this I think is the best researched, … . for this scheme, and therefore it is best to start with this one.
The words we have used about it being followed by a road link are that we hope and believe and expect that it should be built.
As you know, this group which has been chosen, will have a monopoly until the year 2020, but long before that, in the year 2000, we hope there will be plans to build a road link. Now, we think that is the best way to get a link started and developed. I am quite sure once the first link comes into [end p9] existence, the demand for more will be so great that the finance—provided the engineering matters have been tackled—will probably be forthcoming to go further and build the road link; but we have, I believe, to start on this, to get cracking!
Question
I would like to ask a three-part question to our national leaders.
Firstly, has Mrs. Thatcher travelled any distance by train recently? Is it in her today's time-table that a train, a Grande Vitesse TGV, departs from Lille Gare at 13.43 this afternoon and will quietly achieve speeds of 168 miles per hour on its journey to Lyons in Mediterranean France?
Secondly, would President Mitterrand consider acquiring an interest in the Swindon rail workshops in Wiltshire, England, which is to be liquidated shortly by one of Britain's motor enthusiasts? I understand the President has been unable to acquire such an interest for Europe in the nearby Westland helicopter works at Yeovil in Somerset, England. Do our leaders consider the helicopter industry as more important than the railway industry in Britain's Industry Year of 1986 that was launched last Thursday?
Would President Mitterrand be prepared to licence the construction of a future Paris-London TGV train in Britain?
Thirdly, does the Entente Cordiale presented today extend further than hot air? Suppose I propose that we follow the famous Victorian engineer Brunel in his Anglo-French vision in [end p10] the dictum that good works are more important than words, would our national leaders give consideration to bringing the Concorde programme down to earth by clipping Concorde's wings and docking its tail and then accelerating it through a vacuum tunnel such as that of the particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland? Thus the grand concorde of unison would be accelerated by CERN's vacuum tunnel principle to extract all the hot air. This fog has been so prevalent in the weather conditions surrounding the Channel fixed link for over one hundred years now. We seem now to be stuttering along, as Roy Jenkins might say … . I will not read the last, but I thank you for your forebearance in allowing me to ventilate this long question which can be passed forward.
Prime Minister
May I start?
It is a very well-studied and well-rehearsed question or speech, a small portion of which is relevant to the matters before us today! May I therefore answer only that small portion which was relevant, which was when did I last travel by train. May I assure the questioner that I almost won the last election because I travelled from Victoria to Gatwick by the rail link for my tours around Great Britain. (applause)
President Mitterrand
At present, there are many big projects underway in [end p11] Europe … . in which Great Britain and France participate. Quite recently, I visited JET near Oxford. Her Majesty was there herself, and that in fact created a scientific event of the first order, and we participate in many other things as well and the Concorde was mentioned, and I can assure you that the project that is planned is that the TGV train should … . France and Great Britain.
Our plan on the French side goes further than that because we have already suggested to the European Community to carry out the transport part … . from many angles and particularly from this angle … . in other words, high-speed trains, TGVs, between a certain number of cities that have been mentioned: Cologne, Stuttgart, Brussels, Amsterdam and precisely this link, would make it possible to add London to that list, so these are not simply words. This is not just hot air. These are real requirements … . a high-speed train, you have first of all to lay the appropriate track for carrying high-speed trains and that is why at present we have perfectly succeeded in linking Paris and Lyons … . it takes a little over two hours … . and beyond that we are planning that the TGV, which already goes down to Marseilles, should also be able to use new track also instead of the present track that it uses now … . the old track … . and here the fixed link is in no way alien to this. On the contrary, it is certainly related to the idea of a high-speed train link between Paris and London. [end p12]
John Simpson
President Mitterrand, Prime Minister, you both used the word “historic” in your description of the agreement which you have reached, but does it in fact mean anything concrete in terms of British and French relationships?
Prime Minister
Yes, it means both. It is a great day. This prospect of a link between the United Kingdom and France has been spoken of really almost for centuries. I think it was Napoleon who began to talk of it and Winston Churchillalso spoke of it.
This is the first time we have got this far, although there were prospects, as you know, in 1973/74 which, alas, were cancelled. I thought it was very sad because it was an exciting thing which our generation can do.
Today means that we are embarking with a determination to complete this link. It not only means the link itself, the economy. Yes, it does mean something—as the President said earlier—symbolic between France and Britain, and there should be symbolic links between us as well, and also symbolic in the sense that the United Kingdom is very much a part of the whole of Europe.
So you have two things: the economic factor and the symbolic factor. We both agree to that. [end p13]
President Mitterrand
I would simply add one word and that is … . the biggest civil engineering … . of the 20th century. That of course involves a lot of other activities as well. It means that it will be necessary to modernise and improve all the infrastructure or forms of infrastructure in the two terminal areas … north of France (applause).
Michael Brunson
Just one small supplementary question, if I may, to the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister, you know there is great concern—as you mentioned in your opening statement—in Kent and areas like that about the environmental impact. Have you, by agreeing to such a tight deadline, ridden roughshod over environmental requirements?
Prime Minister
No. We have taken environmental requirements into account in the choice of this particular form of this link. As I indicated in my opening remarks, we are very much aware of them and the need to meet them and so we have been aware of them and believe that this scheme will respect the beauty of the surroundings.
John Dickie( “The Daily Mail” )
Madam Prime Minister, Monsieur le President, are you both satisfied that there is adequate protection against disruption of this project either by terrorist action or by industrial action?
President Mitterrand
I think it is rather extraordinary that you should link together industrial action and terrorist action because the right to go on strike is something that exists in a country like France. People are entitled to go on strike. This is not at all the same thing as speaking of people who are acting against the law. Industrial action is a means in the hands of the working class in order to defend its rights. Obviously the right to strike has to abide by certain rules but that is not the subject that we are talking about here today.
If it is a question of terrorist action then, of course, my answer is that that consideration was present in the preliminary considerations of the project. This particular scheme was chosen among others which are extremely interesting. A certain number of specific points had to be answered and this was one of them.
Question (In French)
… . there was one project that was defended by the British and another one defended by the French. Who gave in? Who made the final choice, yourselves, the ministers or the experts? [end p14]
Prime Minister
The final choice was made by negotiation and, of course, by the feasibility of the several schemes, and as I indicated earlier, this one has perhaps been the very best planned in a most detailed way of all of them and I believe that it is this one which could be delivered most quickly; but we have tried to show that this is only, as I indicated, a first step, and we hope and believe that a road link will be built later.
President Mitterrand
There were discussions, not particularly long. It was a serious matter and therefore could not be done overnight, because many questions had to be looked into. We talked about this for the first time with Mrs. Thatcher shortly after we had … . in specific terms, I might say that we actually started a year and a half ago, going into the details, so a year and a half later we are giving you the final answer, and this is a fairly short period of time, so it is fairly quick work, especially as we have succeeded; because in the past there were many conversations quite as long, but they did not achieve anything.
As to the actual merits of this project, the other schemes also had very great things in their favour, very great merits, and finally, in answer to your question, it was the opinion of experts and the opinion of governments and a decision taken by the people competent to take decisions in the United Kingdom and France … well all that taken together has led to what has been decided and the project obviously required the [end p15] ultimate decision of the leaders, the governments on both sides. In France, it was the Prime Minister and myself who agreed that we felt that the proposal that had been put forward jointly by the two governments was the best one.
President Mitterrand
I think that we could now perhaps pass on to the next part of the programme and so I would like to thank you, ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, for being good enough to ask these questions. The Lord Mayor of Lille will take the floor.
Lord Mayor of Lille
President of the Republic, Madam Prime Minister, Lille is proud and happy to welcome you here today and I wish to express the gratitude of the department and the region Pas de Calais for the decision that you have just announced.
Nature has decided to be on your side. Last night, there was a terrible storm, wind and rain; today the sky is quiet and beautiful almost as if it was to approve the bold decisions taken by Man when the elements are against him.
In the life of cities there are certain minutes that count for years, quarters of an hour that count for even longer, and we are living one of those rare privileged moments of history [end p16] where history is actually in the making by you, Madam Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and by you, Sir, President of the Republic of France and all those with you who have taken part in the decision to build a cross-channel fixed link, and I wish to pay tribute to the Prime Minister, M. Fabius and I wish to thank him for coming here today. I also welcome the ministers and distinguished figures from Great Britain and the government coming to Lille.
I would like to thank civilian and military authorities represented here today and I congratulate the promoters and developers for their imagination and I wish to also welcome the many members of the press, Great Britain, France and other countries.
Like always, when one is dealing with one of the really large projects, worldwide, men have often dreamt great dreams, but history has tended to stutter and I read recently the account of the solemn meeting of the region here in France in 1875. This was a meeting presided over by Mr. Kuhlman (phon.) a well-known chemist and engineer, so this was a regional assembly here in 1875. The first thing he said was that one of the things that modern nations must do is to develop communication among the peoples by means of transport, and that is what led to the Suez Canal … . tunnels being built … . and let us be glad that the north of France would not remain outside this general movement … . an undertaking which would be one of the greatest things in the 19th century will be tried with the financial support of the great railway companies and go [end p17] to the Channel under the protection of the … . governments.
The tunnel that is to be built between two great nations and the political and economic impact will be incalculable and the engineer who was responsible for the work said this: “The idea of having an underground tunnel under the Channel is not new. In the 18th century the idea was put forward but the few people who saw the project thought that this was Utopia and it would never in fact be possible.” But then he added: “But two years ago, all the Chambers of Commerce in France have welcomed the tunnel project and it is clear that in the city of Lille it is surely the right place to give yet further support.”
Well we know what happened to that particular project and other projects too, and dozens of attempts even to … . building something and what was to become the great thing then at the end of the 19th century would in fact be the great thing at the end of the 20th century, thanks to the action of your two governments and thanks to the personal decisions that you have taken and today my role is to welcome you here in Lille which is the gateway to France, the capital of … . to welcome you warmly, President of the French Republic and Prime Minister of Great Britain, as being the best … . of the renewed entente cordiale, the entente that made it possible for the forces of democracy and freedom to win the day and for many centuries in this part of the country and they are moving symbols of the trials of our two countries and the sacrifices made by … . fight and Madam Prime Minister, we consider [end p18] you here as being the messenger of Europe, confirmed by your determination to link yourself even closer to the Continent and this is a great day for the European Community and we welcome you, M. President of the Republic, as being the messenger of the Renaissance—the rebirth of the Nord Pas de Calais area. Our wounds still hurt. We have made great efforts, but your decision today and many others shows that a new era is before us. The whole region reaches the land of fidelity and also the land of what is modern and with you, President of the Republic, you are already an honorary citizen of our city, and to the Prime Minister of Great Britain I will give, with the honorary citizenship of the city, the great golden medal of our city (applause).