[Have you been affected by les blocages where you live?]

You're leaving important things out, ALBF.

If you earn 1500€ per month and your rent is 700€, you'll get income support and CAF will pay part of your rent.

Maybe it didn't work like that in your student days, but it works like that now.

FFS, for the first few years I was here when my business going through a bad patch due to the move and the financial crash, I used to receive a very substantial annual income support from the state each year without even asking for it. It happened automatically as a result of my tax return, they paid it into my bank. And I didn't particularly feel I was on a low income, I could have managed without. I could also have claimed other benefits but I didn't because it didn't seem right, to be honest was quite embarrassed to be given "benefits'" at all but hey, it made life more comfortable.

In fact what I did was invest in business software that I couldn't otherwise have afforded, which boosted my earnings, so it was win win I reckon.

[Have you been affected by les blocages where you live?]

With respect ALBF I suspect you have not actually experienced being on a very low salary in France and are mixing things up.

Yes the government takes most of what you earn. But it you really are at the bottom of the ladder it also gives you a lot back. You get cheap "social tarif" electricity, you pay lower tax d'hab, you get RSI/prime pour l'emploi/whatever that particular benefit is called at the time, you get housing benefit if you rent which a lot of people do for that specific reason, so you don't have a lot left in the bank but the govenment reduces your living expenses so much that you should be able to get by decently.

It's the slightly better off families that lose out.

For instance if your deceased family member (who couldn't have been that close, otherwise inheritance would not have been 60% - that's only the rate for non relatives and is it 3rd or 4th degree and over) had had nothing significant to leave, there would have been no significant tax to pay. And someone has to pay for the social tarif electricity, so if you earn even just slightly over the threshold for that, not only do you pay the full rate but you also subsidise the electricity of someone who potentially earns 10€ a year less than you.

So I don't think literally it's a case of struggling to get by, it's more a case of, there are perceived injustices and a lot of people feeli put upon and not being able to enjoy the lifestyle they think you they are entitled to. Which is a valid point, but let's be honest about it.

[Have you been affected by les blocages where you live?]

" the EU and in particularly the Euro is partly responsible for all ths."

Well, clearly the choices that were made and what has been done is responsible for where we are now, can't argue with that.

If things had been done differently we would be in a different place and who is to say whether that place would have been any better or any worse.

So much has changed in recent decades. You have to respond, one way or another, because staying stuck in the mud is the worst choice of all.

Why not blame computers. They've massively changed the labor market and the way we trade, eliminated some jobs and created others. A lot of the impact of robots etc on the job market has been to destroy low skill jobs, hence impacting worst on bottom end of the market while those with the skills to fully exploit technology get rich, so causing more inequality.

There are so many factors, and what has and hasn't been done to address them, that you could blame.

[Direct Debit Cancellation]

Go to the bank and ask them to cancel it?

But if it's for insurance, you need to be aware that as a rule rollover insurance contracts roll over by default if you don't cancel them in the proper way before the renewal date. They don't automatically lapse if you don't pay the renewal premium, like they do in the UK. For instance if you simply ignore the renewal notice for your car insurance, the policy will stay in force and the insurers will eventually chase you for the premium.

[Annoying managers]

LOL YCCMBOQIYP, that made me laugh.

[Annoying managers]

I take your point also, but I think it would be a poor manager who didn't feel some responsibility towards "their" team.

In the same way as you are reponsible for not breaking "your" computer and not overspending "your" budget, you are also supposed to support "your" team.

[French or European]

This is probably going to sound too bitchy but, there is a person on another forum who keeps banging on about how she feels European and she hates Brexit and Brexiters because it will turn her into a foreigner in France (va comprendre). Now she is going to apply for nationality but she finds the language difficult so her wonderful French friends are going to have to help her. FFS.

[French or European]

+1

I like that about the French, I respect it. They really do care about France. They are proud of the good things about it and sad about the bad things. Same with their commune. Not all of them of course but I think there is a big core that does.

When I was fresh off the boat I went through a phase of looking forward to the 5 year mark so I could apply for French nationality. I think I thought it would prove something, although whether to other people or to me I'm not sure. By the time I had been here for 5 years I didn't see the point any more. I am a British person who lives in France. With a French ID card I would still be a British person who lives in France. I can see there are practical reasons for doing it but they don't apply to me.

Being an EU citizen is convenient because it has rights and privileges attached, but beyond enjoying having those rights and privileges, if you basically live in one EU country how do you "feel" like an EU citizen or indeed European? I get that if you have a job that literally takes you all over Europe and your time is spent a month in France, a month in Italy, a month in Poland etc, you might, because you might not particularly feel attached to one country. Maybe Barnier feels European. But I don't think that was this woman's situation.

[Annoying managers]

I think you're being a bit harsh. In the work context "my" tends to have the meaning of "my responsibility" rather than "my own personal possession". Like you talk about "my" desk, "my" computer" etc, you know perfectly well that these things belong to the owner of the business, but, they're the resources you have in order to perform your function so in that sense, they are "yours".

[Moving to and leaving France]

I'd always hoped to be able to move to in France ever since I worked here as a student. But I definitely wanted to live and work here, not just retire here. I finally made the move because the time seemed as right as it would ever be and if I put it off much longer it would be too late, but I wasn't at all sure it would work out,.The timing turned out bad because I moved just before the financial crash about 10 years ago, and between that and the upheaval of moving my semf-employed activity and adjusting it to the French system, it nearly wiped me out. But I hung on and eventually it sorted itself out and the last 6 years have been better than I ever could have hoped, I have a better client base in France now, than I did in the UK before I left. As for the future, well who knows.

[Draft Brexit agreement]

Ah sorry I lost the plot, thought you'd gone back to talking about the agreement and there are lots of 4s and 5s in that.

[Draft Brexit agreement]

Not sure what you're referring to by No 4 and No 5, Richard?

[Draft Brexit agreement]

I'm not a Corbyn fan but I thought it was very honest of him to say upfront that he hadn't read all 500+ pages. I suspect many of those who are confidently spouting judgments on it, have not read the whole thing either but are keeping quiet about it.

I"m getting the feeling that TM has finally glimpsed the reality that the negotiations are on the home straight, and it's time to stop pretending that there will be a unicorn waiting round next corner. Maybe now she's starting to understand how Barnier felt, repeating time after time that rights and obligations have to be balanced and the UK has to choose whereabouts on the scale it wants to be.

[Draft Brexit agreement]

"supermarkets and wholesalers have reserved just about every frozen and chilled food storage facility in the UK to ensure there are plenty of supplies "

I read an article about this in a business magazine earlier in the year. Seems the prices for potential warehouse space have been rocketing and storage/warehousing has become the business to get into as a potential get rich quick after Brexit..

[Draft Brexit agreement]

"All together now: "Rule Britannia"."

RULE BRITANNIA

BRITANNIA WAIVES THE RULES

BRITONS NEVER NEVER NEVER BEEN SUCH FOOLS

that's how it goes isn't it?

[GP'S]

My MT is retiring at the end of the year, the mayor has been talking the talk for at least a year about arranging to set up a medical centre but it hasn't happened, and there is no other doctor within 25km.

[Draft Brexit agreement]

Sticky wickets come in all flavours of stickiness though, ALBF. I hope to heaven you are right with your prediction because the point about all this is, it's closing off choices Certain options that were open to you before Brexit came along, you are no longer certain whether you still have them or not, and in some cases it's pretty certain that you don't. So for all there is talk about the impact on people's lives should be kept to a minimum, for lots of people it is having an impact. It's adding an extra layer of complication that has to be planned around. You know from "the other side" what I was planning to do, and I don't know whether to go ahead and accept the possible consequences, or change my plans and accept different possible consequences.

[The Impôts giveth and the Impôts taketh away]

Another confusion on this, I thought the reduction was only for principal residences. So on my house, I was given the reduction calculated on income but the tax rate went up so I paid near enough the same as last year. I also pay tdh on a lockup garage that I rent for storage, this is classed as a residence secondaire I believe and it's usually a nominal amount of around 25€ a year or so, I expected that to have increased since the rate has gone up but they sent me a bill for 0€. As the title says, the impôts giveth and the impôts taketh away. Va savoir.

[Draft Brexit agreement]

AFAIK nobody has decided yet what if any special document Brits will need, they're waiting to see what Brexit we have aren't they? But I think the difference CT is that all non EU citizens have to first obtain a visa in order to come here in the first place, and in order to get the visa have to meet the conditions for whichever visa they are applying for (eg being sponsored by an employer if they're coming here to a job). Then they need to produce their visa when they apply for their first CDS, and bear in mind that they don't all get the same CDS - some are allowed to work, some have to sign a declaration promising that they won't look for work here - and having done that, they have to jump through certain integration hoops such as attending formal French language and culture classes. Whereas, many Brits who came here under freedom of movement will not meet nor ever have met the immigration requirements for third country nationals, and I don't think most of them would much appreciate being told that they have to attend integration classes either. For instance I am hoping to get a cds that allows me to work here even though as national of another third country I would not have the right to work here. So since Brits who are here already will hopefully get favourable treatment I'm not sure what mileage there is in saying it's not fair.

I imagine that Brits who come here after Brexit will follow the same process as for other 3rd country citizens, applying for a visa and going through OFII etc, so the special card, if there is one, would only be for Brits who got caught up in Brexit, not for all Brits - so not exactly discrimination, just a recognition that some people are in a particular situation.

[The Impôts giveth and the Impôts taketh away]

"It did occur to me that next year’s change, with those with an internet connection having to pay, might have been applied early."

No - I don't have a TV but I do (obviously!) have an internet connection, and I wasn't charged AV.

[Internet]

I also work from home and I have to say that decent internet was a deal breaker for me when it came to buying a house. Being risk averse I also needed a plan B, and for that reason I didn't want to be in the ar5e end of nowhere. I bought in a small town that has a centre de télétravail within walking distance where I can work if my home internet goes down, and it's been a lifesaver on a couple of occasions. In fact sometimes when I have a lot of work on, I rent a desk there so I can get a bit of work/life balance, work a 9 to 5 day at the office and then come home. The télécentre has been a real bonus but I would have thought twice living anywhere that didn't at least have a MacDo or an internet caff within range.

[Problem with laptop and livebox]

My laptop is the worst I've ever owned for network adapter problems, everything from 'no network adapter installed' downwards, most often it insists there are no networks available even though other devices sitting right next to it are connected. But so far after I turn the pc off and on again (sometimes a couple of times) it forgets what its latest problem was and starts working again.

[Carte de Sejour - Translation of Documents]

"So the idea that he would need a UK S1 is surely wrong, as the business would need to be registered in France, for someone working in France and is a french resident."

Yes absolutely idun. I think the confusion came from a previous post where he said

"I am self employed. My business has been operating only in the UK. I will be living in France but commuting to the UK for work a number of days per week."

ie sounded like a cross border worker moving to France but continuing to work in the UK, ie paying UK tax and NICs and covered in France via a UK issued workers S1 (not to be confused by a retirement S1) from the UK.

However, the "number of days per week" has now changed to "a couple of days every month" which totally changes the picture. But you can maybe see where the confusion came from...

[Carte de Sejour - Translation of Documents]

As CT says, in that case I don't see what the problem would be. If you apply for a titre de séjour as a worker, they're not normally interested in what you did before you set up your business here. Although I suppose if you apply for your titre de séjour very soon after arriving, it's possible that they might.

Personally I think I might consider holding off applying until I'd been established here a few months and could show at least rudimentary accounts for the French business, rather than applying the moment I arrived.

[Carte de Sejour - Translation of Documents]

"I was just wondering how the OP could apply for residence when he neither works in France nor lives here permanently."

Well he would need to meet France's residency criteria, but one of them is that France is where your "foyer" or family home is, so if his wife is living permanently in France then I guess that would be satisfy France as far it goes.

However in this situation HMRC would also need to be satisfied that the family is genuinely resident in France in order for them to issue the workers S1, because without an S1 the person can't claim to be correctly exercising freedom of movement as a frontalier, and none of the other possible statuses for exercising FoM (working in France - self-supporting inactif - UK pensioner or other S1 holder) would fit.

Being a frontalier, ie being employed the other side of a border is not that uncommon a situation, eg. France/Switzerland, France/Belgium etc, obviously not so many Brits do it because it's not so convenient but I'm sure there are plenty that commute via Ryanair flights and ferry crossing every week. But, cross border workers and the posted workers are the ones that seem to be most at most risk from a no deal brexit.