THE French government has promised to secure the future of the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry with more funding, we can reveal.

At a crunch meeting in Dieppe which was attended by The Argus the French government stated it will continue to subsidise the line and the existing carrier has entered a bid for the new contract to carry tourists and freight between England and France for another four years.

A total of 20 million euros a year will continue to flow from French taxpayers to operators of the crossing, securing hundreds of jobs on both sides of the Channel, the Transmanche Users Group meeting was told.

Users and political leaders will also come together to launch a major marketing push aimed at encouraging tourism in the regions around the ports, under the banner “Bienvenue a Normandie-Sussex.”

President of the French Department of Seine-Maritime, Pascal Martin, told the meeting room overlooking Dieppe harbour that a new public tender would run for four years from this August and would replace the existing arrangement without a break in service.

M Martin told the meeting, which was conducted in French, “There’s more than a good ray of hope, we can assure our English friends that this will continue.

“The department has always repeated its desire to keep the line going.”

The future of the line had been in doubt following a ruling by a French court in January that the nature of the contract with Danish carrier DFDS - extended until 2017 just last December - ran contrary to competition legislation.

And for several years the line has been beset by concerns for its future, with discontent from French politicians about the scale of the public subsidy and legal challenges from Eurotunnel.

M Martin later told The Argus: “Regarding the public subsidy, it will remain the same for years to come.”

DFDS director general Jean-Claude Charlo confirmed to the 130 attendees from both countries that his company had submitted a bid for the contract.

M Martin would not confirm whether any other ferry company had made a bid for the route, explaining that to do so might weaken the government’s negotiating position with operators.

The meeting discussed plans to increase passenger numbers by promoting the regions of Normandy and Sussex as a collaborative zone for business and tourism.

Posters encouraging cross-border travel are to go up in each of the the department’s 450 bus stations, a tourism brochure has been published online and will be printed and distributed on the ferry, and officials are seeking to promote Sussex wines as an accompaniment to Normandie cuisine.

There are even suggestions that the two regions could work together to celebrate the 950th anniversary of the Norman Conquest.

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield, who attended meeting in Dieppe, told The Argus: “I was very reassured by the fact that there’s a contract for four years and there’s someone bidding for it. Now they’ve got to follow through.”

TOURISM INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE TRAVEL BETWEEN REGIONS

The last time the people of Normandy were roused by their political leaders to cross the Channel to Sussex, the English monarch got an arrow in the eye.

Her Majesty will presumably be hoping to avoid the fate of her eleventh century predecessor Harold, when a new French tourism initiative hits full force later in the year.

But perhaps William the Conqueror would have found it genial to learn that, 950 years after his victory at Hastings, the regions his rule bound together would once again be partnered, this time in a marketing drive to be titled “Bienvenue a Normandie-Sussex”.

This project, backed by the French Department of Seine-Maritime – a region of Normandy – was one of the new announcements to emerge from Monday’s meeting on the future of the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry line.

In addition to hearing reassurances on the future of the ferry line and its public subsidy, the 130 assembled members of the Transmanche Users Group also learned of plans to promote the line by encouraging tourism and business users to think in terms of a combined “transmanche” [across-the-channel] region of “Normandie-Sussex”. 

Franck Sottou, vice president of the Dieppe district body, told the meeting: “The crossing needs public funds, that is critical, but it is not sufficient. It also needs customers.”

He outlined plans for collaboration between the regions to include tourism posters, a printed tourist guide, school twinning, and business deals.

A poster titled “SO CHIC” featuring a stylised Frenchman carrying a baguette and a caricature of an Englishman in a City suit will adorn the walls of every bus station in the department this summer.

And a 40-page tourist guide to the two regions written by volunteers has already been published online, with plans to make a printed version available to ferry passengers once a partner can be found to match the 50 per cent funding already provided by the department.

The Guide – which describes Sussex destinations in French and explains Normandie beauty spots in English – includes recommendations on South Down cycling routes and the best architectural treasures to be found in northern France.

It opens its introduction to Brighton with the words: “Bohemian and trendy, funky and colourful, creative and cosmopolitan, Brighton is without doubt one of the most exciting towns in the UK.”

Dieppe Mayor Sebastien Jumel agreed, saying: “I think the Brighton and Hove basin is the Cote d’Azur of England.

“So we have to promote the line and promote Dieppe – which is the loveliest city in France – but we must also promote the richness and the diversity of that region of England.”

His Newhaven counterpart Steve Saunders said that there was no possibility of English authorities contributing monetarily to the line, and that therefore, “the only thing we can do on this side of the channel is promote the region and promote the ferry and I’m working with Sebastien Jumel to do that”.

He said that the Avenue Verte – a picturesque cycling route used by thousands, running from the coast to Paris which he cycled for charity recently – had already been identified as a major success story which could be promoted further on both sides of the Channel.

Speaking exclusively to The Argus following the meeting, Franck Sottou added that the project had enormous potential.

He said: “80 per cent of the tourist traffic on the line is from the English side and this is a huge opportunity to attract more French people to Sussex.

“We are going to make an updated version of a map showing major events in Normandy and Sussex and the idea is to do a table map of the regions which will be on the ferry.

“What makes Normandie-Sussex special is the quality of the people, of the lands and of the products too.

“We’ve got beautiful landscapes on both sides, beautiful gardens, we’ve got amazing food and wine and the paradox is it’s the English region which makes the beautiful wine.

“I think there’s an opportunity to match the food from Normandy and the wine from Sussex.”

He is optimistic that the two regions can cross-promote the forthcoming 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, but added that Sussex residents need have no fear of the French trampling on 1066 celebrations planned for later this year.

“We will be very humble,” he said. with a Gallic shrug,  “It is part of our shared history.”