mpprh1

A few more quotations. Frêche may be best remembered for : * describing President Nicolas Sarkozy as a "pansy in platform shoes" * greeting the election of Pope Benedict XVI with the words "I hope he does better than the other idiot [John Paul II]" * proclaiming that a French football team containing "nine blacks out of 11" when "the norm would be three or four" made him feel "ashamed for this country" * once remarking: "I've always been elected by a majority of plonkers. That's not about to change." * declaring that he really should be standing for election in Toulouse, having as a student "screwed 40% of its women". * declaring that local French politics were really not very hard: you simply increase taxes, build a few schools, "then you get two years of unpopularity, two years of calm, two favourable years with flowers and little birdies, and then you're re-elected. It's all most disconcertingly easy." * saying "his nose doesn't look very catholic to me" when Laurent Fabius criticised him on the radio. * saying that "20,000 out of the 30,000 books are useless and need to be destroyed", when asked to support the reopening of the American library in Montpellier. Peter

Sea and air crew have always had a specific tax regime. Ryanair’s policy of issuing Irish contracts to crew operating on Irish aircraft has already been upheld by the courts in Belgium, Germany and Spain which found that crews who operate on Irish registered aircraft are correctly employed in Ireland in accordance with EU law. The four planes based at MRS employ 120 pilots and cabin crew locally - these are at the centre of the legal action. Withdrawal of the four 737's is estimated to be at the expense of 1m passengers per year and a further 1000 local jobs. Ryanair now only have Marseille as a "base" in France having pulled out of others in the past. Both Marseille and Strasbourg actions were based on attempts to establish a French monopoly on services. Air France is the other main user of this airport with mainly domestic flights. Sad ? Peter

"I don't understand the impact on the Languedoc. You are posting this in the Languedoc part of this Forum." Actually, I'm posting it in this section : South East (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur) ? Marseille is the main airport for Provence, and is only 70km from Languedoc. Languedoc is a big place with several very small airports. The best flight connections are Marseille (61 routes) and Girona in Spain (73 routes). 50% of LR is closer to Marseille ? Montpellier is under 1hr 30 to Marseille airport. 2010 routes : http://the-languedoc-page.com/tourism/languedoc-tourism-air.htm Peter

RYANAIR ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF MARSEILLE BASE 4 AIRCRAFT, 13 ROUTES, 200 JOBS LOST AT MARSEILLE, AS AIRCRAFT AND JOBS SWITCH TO SPAIN AND ITALY Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (13th Oct) announced that it will close its only French base at Marseille Airport from Tuesday 11th Jan 2011, following the commencement of legal proceedings against Ryanair’s Marseille base, where all of its 200 pilots and cabin crew work on Irish aircraft (i.e. Irish territory) and pay their taxes and social insurance contributions in Ireland where they receive their Irish pay. The four Marseille based aircraft (and 200 Ryanair jobs) will now be moved in January to competitor airports in Spain, Italy and Lithuania, with the result that 13 Marseille routes will be closed from 11th January. Ryanair will continue to operate 10 routes to/from Marseille Airport, on aircraft and crews that are based elsewhere. Ryanair’s base at Marseille and its Flight Crews fully comply with the European Directive on Transport Workers which allows all mobile transport workers to pay income tax and social insurance in the country they work (which in this case is Ireland because they work on Irish registered aircraft which is defined as Irish territory) or where their employer is resident and where they are physically paid, which also in Ryanair’s case is Ireland. The French authorities wish to take a different view and claim that these mobile (Irish) workers should pay income tax and social insurance in France, rather than in Ireland, even though this is contrary to EU regulations. The closure of Ryanair’s Marseille base and the loss of these aircraft and jobs demonstrates why the European regulations on mobile workers should be respected by France and why this attempt by the French authorities to force these mobile workers to pay taxes in France, when they are employed on Irish territory and paid in Ireland, are doomed to failure. Ryanair has taken a case in the European Courts against this French decree which clearly runs counter to EU rules on international transport workers. Speaking today in Marseille, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “We are very disappointed at this decision by the French authorities to initiate proceedings against Ryanair’s base in Marseille, which complies fully with EU regulations for mobile transport workers. These are not French jobs, but rather Irish jobs on Irish aircraft, which are defined by EU regulations as Irish territory. All of these people pay their tax and social insurance, in accordance with EU regulations, in Ireland and they remain fully tax compliant. “Sadly the loss of these 4 aircraft, 200 jobs and 13 routes at Marseille is the high price necessary to demonstrate that these are mobile Irish workers, which is why they are covered by the EU regulations for mobile transport workers; and not by a local French decree which Ryanair is currently appealing to the European Courts . This ill-judged legal action has therefore cost Marseille and France jobs, foreign investment and lost visitors in circumstances where our Marseille base fully complies with EU regulations for transport workers. “Ryanair remains committed to Marseille Airport and in particular to its low cost MP2 Terminal. Ryanair will now be working with the management of Marseille Airport to try to grow other routes and traffic, on aircraft which are based overseas, particularly as Ryanair opens up bases elsewhere in Europe. Sadly the loser in all of this will be Marseille Airport, tourism and jobs in the Provence region.” 10 Routes to Continue : Brussels Dusseldorf Fez London Madrid Malta Porto Rome Seville Valencia 13 Routes to Close : Agadir Brest Eindhoven Lille Marrakesh Nador Nantes Palermo Paris Tangier Tenerife Tours Venice Every cloud has a silver lining - my MIL lives near to Tours Peter _________________

Perhaps curiously ... Ryanair has (uncharacteristically quietly) announced some new routes : Barcelona to Fuerteventura from 02 Nov 10 Barcelona to Leeds Bradford from 31 Oct 10 Barcelona to Porto from 31 Oct 10 Dusseldorf (Weeze) to Marseille from 2 Nov 10 Larnace to Girona (Barcelona) 01 Dec 10 Palermo to Marseille 03 Nov 10 Porto to Rodez 31 Oct 10 Rome (Ciampino) to Marseille 02 Nov 10 Seville to Marseille 02 Nov 10 Tenerife South to Marseille 01 Nov 10 Valencia to Marseille 02 Nov 10 Venice-Treviso to Marseille 02 Nov 10

I've been using these people : GARAGE ESPINASSE 18, Route de Montpellier 30250 Sommières Tel: 04 66 80 36 23 Fax: 04 66 80 36 32 They are OK so far. Peter