Corporate responsibility 

For more than 25 years, the Channel Tunnel has been a vital link between Great Britain and continental Europe and makes an important contribution to the vitality of Europe, bringing people, business and culture together. Since the Tunnel came into operation, it has created more than 8,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Kent and Hauts-de-France regions, and has led to the building of large scale associated infrastructure, including new motorways, high speed railway lines and international railway stations.

Pursuant to the regeneration agreement signed in 2006 with the French State, Eurotunnel continues to contribute financially and through its expertise to Calais Promotion, the development agency for the Calais area, mainly allocated to supporting job creation. Similarly, it provides financial support and actively participates in the cross-border job fair Jobs Frontaliers, a local initiative that facilitates the professional mobility of young people between France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

Other subcontracting and service partnerships were signed between Eurotunnel in France and local companies to develop employment and guarantee a community foothold for the Group’s activities. These partnerships represented 1,492 fulltime equivalent for different teams, notably service-based.

Getlink, alongside the French State, the Hauts-de-France region, the CCI Cote d’Opale, and the urban community of Dunkirk and SNCF Réseau, is financing feasibility studies on the modernisation of the Fréthun-Calais-Dunkirk railway line, which would involve its electrification and an increase in rail freight path availability.

Europorte is developing its rail freight haulage activities, which enable disused marshalling yards and railway lines, as well as lines with restricted traffic, to continue operating or to be brought back into service.

A key player in the natural, economic and human environment, Eurotunnel fulfils its social responsibility through concrete commitments and actions of soldarity to support the community:

• Payment since 2010 of 10% of the land rental income from the wind farm on its Coquelles site to Secours Populaire, which distributes the payments in the form of energy vouchers to families in Pas-de-Calais. The partnership, which has been already renewed several times, is extended until 2021.
• Active support for the French Second Chance Foundation, a recognised public interest group committed to the rehabilitation of people who have faced great difficulties in their lives.

• In July 2019, Getlink signed a PAQTE patnership for two years with the Urban Community of Calais and the French State, in which the company is committed to facilitate the access to employment within the company for people living in Priority Education neighbourhoods of the Calais area. This partnerships will enable to raise the awareness of young people to businesses (work experience), to promote access to employment through apprenticeship (training) and to recruit in a non-discriminatory manner (employment). This supportive action contribues once more to develop relationships and to build a common future with the local community.
• Since 2013, Getlink has agreed to always refer to the Association des Paralysés de France (APF) for any service within the areas of expertise of its partner companies, which employ people with disabilities. The Group also regularly entrusts projects to APF workshops near Calais, notably specialising in mechanical welding, carpentry and packaging.

• Participation since November 2016 in the “Professeurs en entreprises” operation initiated by the Fondation C Génial, a foundation for scientific and technical culture. This operation is aimed at secondary school teachers (and other members of the national education system) and in addition to the professional integration of young people it makes it possible to promote the sectors and the technical professions of the companies visited. Several Eurotunnel rolling stock managers took part in this activity.

Getlink also offers its expertise in managing transport infrastructures and rail activities to various public bodies at European, national and regional levels:

• A founding member of the Fer de France association which was created in 2012 to bring together the leading players in the French railway industry. The work presided over by the Group led to proposals for the French state to recognise different professions in this developing sector.
• An active member of I-Trans, the global competitiveness cluster and the reference cluster for railways in France. The Group participates as the pilot of the CAPFOR operational group that aims to make existing training more consistent with the industry’s expectations, creating a pool of expertise in the region and developing high quality higher education with international influence.
• As a partner of the École des Ponts et Chaussées, in July 2018 Getlink renewed the “Rail transport sciences” fellowship for five years. This partnership aims to make progress in rail science by studying the whole scope of the activity, as well as the sustainability of facilities and technologies in place.
• Participation in IT coding: Eurotunnel welcomed some girls aged between 8 and 10 at a beginners’ programming workshop. This initiative was aimed at awakening an interest in computing careers from the earliest age.

• In July 2019, partnership signed between Europorte, the French Ecole polytechnique and Railnova to design and use algorithms in order to increase the availability of rolling stock and the reliability of its locomotive fleet. The development of prdictive maintenance and use of big data will constitute a research subject within the framework o the Ecole Polytechnique Executive Master programme.