UK nears agreement on cooperation with EU border force

File photo: The European Union and Union Jack flags are flown outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File photo

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government will announce in the coming days an agreement for cooperation with the European Union’s border protection agency, Frontex, in a further sign of thawing post-Brexit relations.

Sunak’s spokesman said on Monday the agreement would mean that both sides will share information on gangs involved in illegal migration and collaborate on technologies to prevent human trafficking.

Frontex “has unparalleled insight into illegal migration and cross-border crime on the European continent, so it is obviously right that we have these conversations to reach these working arrangements that will give us new ways to tackle illegal migration,” Sunak’s spokesman said.

In a readout of a call between Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, Downing Street said an agreement should be formalised in the coming days.

Sunak has made stopping the arrival of small boats carrying asylum seekers from France one of his five top priorities, and hopes a fall in arrivals might help his Conservative Party, trailing in opinion polls, pull off an unexpected win at the next general election later this year.

While Britain has reached bilateral agreements – including a recent deal with Turkey to disrupt people-smuggling gangs and tackle illegal migration – it no longer has returns agreements with the EU since it left the bloc.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Kate Holton)