What ex-pat might view as something that divides us from Europe (7,7)

I believe the answer is:
english channel
'europe' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for english channel that I've seen is " distances us from France".)
I've seen this clue in The Times.
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