The reaction of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region faced with the implementation of a fixed channel link: the “strategic Transmanche plan”

The opening of the Channel Tunnel in conjunction with the creation of the European high speed rail network has highlighted the need to get a clearer view of how all these new large scale infrastructure plans will affect the regions where they are built. This work shows how a specific policy has been set up to accompany the Channel Tunnel implementation in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Firstly we analyse how and why the politicians of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region have set up a Transmanche back-up strategy which has been developed in the context of research led in the field of the structuring impacts of transport infrastructures. It falls within the framework of research carried out in France and in other countries on the impacts of large scale transport infrastructures which recommended, during the mid-1980s, the bringing into play of such accompanying strategies. Secondly, by analysing the text which set out its development plan, we point out the originality of the steps taken by the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. It consists of inserting a specific policy in order to maximise the benefits of the Channel Tunnel building period, in the short and medium term, inside a wider strategic development plan covering several regional plans for the social and economic reconversion of this area. Thirdly, we note that these measures were restricted during the writing phase of the document which contractualizing these actions with the State