monsieur macon

As already mentioned: i wanted to discuss the issue of legitimate concerns about an eventual exit of UK from the EU. Anyone can draw up a best of/worst of top ten list for the UK and many people no doubt have personal reasons for why they find themselves living abroad. All that aside, i'm legitimately concerned about issues such as health care and social security if the UK leaves, as these will have to be renegotiated between French and UK governments. Pretending that it will be business as usual is in my opinion naive. The French state does not owe anything to UK citizens, be that health care etc if the UK leaves the EU....if you have worked and paid into the system then fair enough, but all that could be about to change. That is my concern. Becoming a French national is one way around this, but i doubt weather all UK ex-pats have this option available.

lol...yes what would Lefarge think of that???? i suppose French citizenship is one way out of the problem...if the French want us!!!!!!! Naturalization is a long drawn out process, but those of us who are married can obviously fast track. I've got kids born in France, so i guess at least they are entitled to French nationality. But the Prefecture told me last week that all new borns must now submit a demand for nationality as of 14 years old...its not longer automatic....

I really hope that France and the other EU countries with large numbers of Brit expats will actually be as accommodating with us as we hope! I suppose that the UK could come to some kind of agreement with the countries individually, much like the Swiss have done, and to a lesser degree Norway. It's certainly not going to be a picnic, re-writting all the accords. Many ex-pat Brits (such as myself) do very well from French health care etc...there is no reason to believe that this would necessarily continue. Also, what about pensioners in France currently converting their sterling into Euros? Would the pound go into freefall against the Euro? Yes, i think it would, about 1€ to 2pounds - or some such figure....great for export from the UK however!!!

surprise surprise....i've leaved in France since 1997 when I arrived at the age of 21...although I love the place, i've never known such a bunch of nationalistic, inward looking, intolerant people. Granted, i live in rural France, but if your not born in the village with 10 generations of ancestors then you are definitely an outsider!!!

Things seem to be heating up back in Blighty. If Scotland votes to leave the union and UKIP thrash the cons next year, there could be a referendum on EU membership within three years. If Britain votes to leave (as 65% of polled voters indicated) what would become of expats in Europe??? What about health care, jobs, carte de sejor etc etc...???? Have UKIPERS in Europe really thought this through? Is Britain a little Switzerland???? You can kiss you visits to French hospitals goodbye!!! It's certainly alarming!!!

"the EU run for ordinary people" its been a long time that the EU has been run by and for the benefit of a ruling elite. It seems very apparent that the UK in particular and to some extant France, also maintain a status-quo with a rich ruling elite. I'm not particularly left in politics, but living standards and salaries have been dropping in many western countries for yrs, the money being siphoned off via the finance sector into the hands of a tiny minority, production has largely moved overseas (with a few exceptions), job insecurity has probably never been so acutely felt since the 1930s. My Grandmother born in 1913 and passed away in 2012 often lamented that the UK and Europe were returning to a 1930s politics and economics...i do hope she was wrong because we all know what happened next!!!

i'm not so sure about the Romania/UK comparison....Eastern Europe is up and coming, with plenty to develop and exploit, resources, land, farming etc etc...cheap labor, probably not that many labor laws, light government legislation etc. The UK has London and the bankers!! Merkel may well prefer to invest in Romania (factories, cars, producing goods, selling goods), than the UK. Apart from retail and banks, im hard pushed to see what the UK does economically, oh yer, speculation on the housing market....that's' a great British past time!!!

agree with the sentiment of these posts that better in, than out of the EU. I've heard UKIP supporters comparing the Uk to Switzerland and Norway!! Switzerland and Norway we are definitely not! In all honesty, what would be UK be outside the EU? A very small island in a very disadvantaged position to bargain with the EU. I cant see France and Germany making a special arrangement with the UK out of sentiment, in business there is very little of that. The UK would no doubt have to import EU products (food mainly) under un-interesting terms of trade. Or would the USA come to save us???

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/30/britain-european-exit-poll-gulf-eu-attitudes?commentpage=1

In a British broadsheet the following article discusses the UK's move towards EU exit. If a referendum were held tomorrow, the UK would probably leave the EU. I would like to know what significance this would have for Brits living in Europe, namely France....would the UK have to renegotiate all the EU treaties? will we return to needing a visa to visit France (carte de sejour as was 50yrs ago)...what happens to Brits who work in France? Overall, it doesn't seem to rosy!!! Thanks Mr UKIP!!!!

just a small precision: nursing in France is in fact well paid and a respectable career....although it is dog-hard to actually become a fully qualified nurse, costing a fair few euros and a very tough entry exam...i guess this effectively closes the door to the vast majority of cheap foreign workers...I've been out of the UK for a very long time, but its just astonishing how much it has changed in ten yrs....and yes, i agree, many immigrants seem to be working in hospitality, catering, taxis etc....low skilled, unqualified sectors.....I wonder how many of these jobs the UK can provide.....? How many window cleaners does a small town need???

a political hot potato by any means......I guess the DM can get a little OTT about eastern Europeans, and from some of the posts on this thread, it does seem that its not just a case of turning up in the UK and "signing on" for the dole, or whatever it is called now.... There does though seem to be a general problem with the EU mega plan of expansion, bringing into the fold countries with such totally different economies and standards of living, yes the Greeks obviously now fall into this category. Is there not a risk of a race down to the bottom for labour? I know a number of sectors in France (nursing, building, some IT work, agricultural work etc) that already tender out to the lowest wage, or SMIC. Moreover, in the BTP sector, we have a lot of clandestine workers from all over, ready to do a days work for perhaps 20euros, or less!!! Of course, they are technically illegal immigrants...Germany is now going to instigate their own SMIC, any ideas on how much this will be???

the 1st January 2014, a number of eastern European countries have the right to free movement throughout Europe, live and work etc. Unlike the UK, the french benefit system, "chomage" or "RSA" requires the person to have paid into the system in order to benefit, likewise for the carte-vitale....why is the UK unable to adapt its benefit system to a similar form...and hypothetically, what would happen if the entire population of Romania and Bulgaria decided to move to the UK and claim benefits, which they are entitled to do under EU treaty law? Who would pay the bill? Do the UK politicians actually want an influx of cheap labor, perhaps to kick start the economy?? Just an idea...