Chassaing

[quote user="cooperlola"]We have today launched a website dealing in all things related to the new health and residency legislation in France.   http://www.frenchhealthissues.eu/   On it, we offer as much difinitive information as we have been able to find, on the new legislation, how it might affect you, and what you can do to lobby against it.   We hope to expand the website over the coming weeks, to encompass all the aspects of the legislation and its effects, plus what we can do to contest it.  For this we need your help, feedback and input.   Please take the time to have a good look around the site, and contact us with your suggestions as to what we can do to make it better.  Also, please feel free to contact us if we can help you in any way with your own lobbying efforts.   [email protected] [/quote] Well done guys, looks great! I've sent the link to everyone in my address book.

I don't know if or when a housing crash will come, but if it does then a depression is also a real risk.  But there is always hope if you are mortgage free you stand a chance. In the 1930s people became mortgage free this way..... http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/depress/hoovers.html

[quote user="crépuscule"]I had an andouillette when I was in France recently and I probably won't repeat the experience. [/quote] I'm not adventurous enough for andouillette!   I love haggis though.

[quote user="cooperlola"]That'll be for my birthday then, Lebois, can I come?[:D] Don't forget the neeps![/quote] Neeps aren't a problem......  The plan was for our local English and French language courses only to be invited  for a little Scottish Supper.  Mmmmmmm  I really have a problem now, if I don't invite you....  I'm sure there will be a lobby group set up!  :) If I get this thing off the ground, who knows....  Do you play the bag pipes?  

[quote user="cooperlola"]My only caveat might be the fallout from foot and mouth.  Can anybody import meat from the UK at the moment?[/quote] I agree, if not now anytime between now and Jan (Anything can happen).  This is one of the reasons for wanting to source the Haggis (one big one!) in France. I would have thought with the French using 'every part of the pig', surely some one would use most of a sheep.....

[quote user="kettle738"]We are new to France, buying a house near Le Bugue (24).  The telephone line test site tells me the house is 5.5 km from the exchange and all France telecom can offer by way of broadband speed is 512k, none of the other providers on the site are any better. Does anyone know of any options that may be worth exploring, and is there any hope of obtaining an improvement or upgrade to the line from France Telecom?........my experience of these subjects is very limited, what are the most obvious effects of being limited to 512k? Thanks in anticipation.............kettle 738    [/quote] You could try testing your line here, they give alteratives based on the response... http://www.123adsl.com/

I hope any anti British action doesn't go this far.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2182383,00.html#article_continue

Thank you Ron for your comments. I am concerned that not enough is being done to help the people in need in France who have lost or will soon loose their health cover.

Yes Tony F, I know what you mean about taking "a measured and sensible approach to this issue", I have been reading the UK MPs' email replies to expats. If they wish to do nothing then nothing will be done.  I'm glad that Mary Honeyball MEP is taking action. Everyone, please keep signing this petition and lobbying.. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/healthinFrance/

Looks like one voter is about to vote with her feet: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=487165&in_page_id=1811

[quote user="lebois"] Hi Everyone, Here is another opportunity!  Tell all your friends and family. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/healthinFrance/ Regards [/quote] I have heard that some people have been having problems with this site. For instance, some have waited about 8 hours for the automated email. Please keep trying.

[quote user="Clair"]http://www.thomasgreen.fr/france/lille/shop/asp/prodtype.asp?shopCode=lille&prodtype=69 http://www.epicerie-ecossaise.com/HAGG/hagg.php Found through google.fr [/quote] Thanks Clair! Ideally, I'm looking for someone who can make em.  But I'll use these places if I have to. Has anyone had experience good or bad of online Haggis providers?

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]So you can get Haggis (plural Haggi ?) but can you get Neeps ?[/quote] I'm sure they'll turnip from somewhere!

Hi everyone, I'm seriously considering a little 'Scottish' evening in January for a few French and British friends, (possibly 40 to 50 people). Does anyone know anyone in France that is or might be able to make the Haggis?   Or a reliable source who would export to France, if it is possble? Any help would be gratefully received, Thanks in advance.

[quote user="WJT"]Perhaps I'm wrong on this but my understanding was that the UK wasn't contributing towards the costs of health care for early retirees in France and other EU countries like for example Germany and Holland are for their citizens that live in other EU countries. If this is the case, shouldn't the petition be made to the UK government to pay for it's citizens rather than ask them to demand France to accept that they will not pay?  [/quote] Would everyone consider signing this petition so that more pressure can be applied from different directions, and asking friends and families to do the same. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/healthinFrance/ There is enormous concern amongst British residents in France about changes being introduced to the French state health system. Significant changes are being applied retrospectively to British citizens who diligently complied with the law in place at the time they arrived in France. Even those currently receiving treatment for serious medical problems will find themselves deprived of it The French government is implementing EU Directive 2004/38 by refusing newly arriving EU citizens the right to join the French health scheme. Non-working persons below state retirement age will be required to take out private health insurance. Until now, those currently living in France have been treated in the same way as French citizens, joining the state CMU (Couverture Maladie Universelle) scheme and paying contributions. Now, they have until 31 March 2008 when their paid membership of CMU will cease. Full private health insurance will now be necessary even though it does not currently exist in France, where it has been illegal. Those with an existing life-threatening condition, such as cancer ,heart disease, or chronic illness will find private companies exclude these from cover.

Hi Everyone, Here is another opportunity!  Tell all your friends and family. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/healthinFrance/ Regards

[quote user="Magoo"]Thanks Lebois - I emailed Mary Honeyball last month but will try a couple of others. I was upset by some comments on various forums a while back that basically say people with chronic conditions should have known better than to burn their bridges and leave the NHS but before I 'burnt bridges' I was informed by the British Embassy in Paris, DWP and the French Embassy in London of the French healthcare rules that stated I had to join the system and my diabetes would be covered 100%.  You say you are covered by insurance now - are you able to tell me by which company? Regards M [/quote] Hi Magoo,  (sorry this company isn't yet ready for preconditions) what we did was spent 3 days trawling the internet getting quotes.  Our 'Top up' insurance man had been prepped a week before, and had had been doing the same. When we went to see him we were able to show him the competion, he was able to satisfy our need but with lower cover. We only drive a small car, know what I mean? I think this is the best way forward, get prepared and test the professionals! Good luck.

[quote user="lebois"] If the UK PMs won't sort the story attached, what  can be done for a few French Expats? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=N0BJB0203DQKPQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/11/ncdiff111.xml Regards [/quote] I'm sorry everyone,  but letting people die in UK hospitals and UK Citizens in France is unacceptable.  It is about time MPs were in court for Manslaughter as well, perhaps the laws would be more carefully worded to protect people.  Please keep lobbying!  We need to shout louder.

[quote user="Magoo"]Hi I've tried to keep up to date with decisions regarding those of us that are due to be expelled next April but because of chronic conditions (I have type I diabetes) cannot obtain private health insurance - does anyone know the latest? Also, has anyone found any health insurance companies that are inclusive of conditions such as mine? I have contacted 6 or 7 without success - they are happy to help out with anything but the one thing I have wrong with me!!! So, I am looking at becoming 'stateless' with regards healthcare and as we are talking about on average €800 a month for medication and screening, unable to fund my treatment which will put my health in serious danger................sorry that sounds a tad dramatic, but sadly it's true. Lastly, does anyone know whether being registered as actively seeking work changes my inactive status? Cheers[/quote] Hi Magoo, well done for keeping up to date, we were 2 of the first to get hit by this.  We are now covered by insurance.  The key thing is that a lot of UK MPs are just letting this thing happen, and doing nothing.  May I suggest you do as much lobbying as possible (see lobbying thread). The 'smell' is going to get stronger around January, I sense it. Good luck with your situation, there will be others asking for the same help so you are not alone. All the best,

If the UK PMs won't sort the story attached, what  can be done for a few French Expats? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=N0BJB0203DQKPQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/11/ncdiff111.xml Regards

[quote user="Joshua"]Inactive for me is, Contributing to the existence of our hamlet Supporting local businesses and trades-people Spending most of my British pension in the Supermarkets and DIY Stores Renovating and refurbishing a house that otherwise would have stood empty Embracing the way of life by learning French and integrating with the local community Knowing that my Grandfather died along with 3,500 other British Soldiers, liberating a small piece of France called Neuve Chapelle in March 1915. He is buried at Le Touret. 7,500 British soldiers were also injured over those three days of fighting. Knowing that my Father sustained hearing loss from the gunfire in a battle in France during the Second World War. That’s why we deserve to be treated with fairness and equality. Joshua [/quote] And all the years of previous work transfered into the Euros used to buy the house. 

[quote user="Ron Avery"]Do you get the impression that the French Government are making this up as they go along?  As I said sometime back, surely there was a purpose to this legislation as there should be to any legislation in any country and it should have had an objective.  Was the objective to control immigration into France by stopping  non-working people from coming to France?  By stopping them  being part of the healthcare system or was it to reduce the burden, if there ever was one, of non French on the French Healthcare system?  Either way with the supposed concessions of those with 5 year residency and possibly pre-existing conditions not covered by an E121 being exempted, you wonder just who will really be excluded and if the costs of administrating it all  will in fact be more than they actually save by excluding a few hundred Brits. [/quote] I agree, if this was purely a healthcare issue, it looks like the FG has messed up as all the 8% contributions will be disappearing in March and the others could well be forced back into the system. However, I feel this is an Immigration Issue, using healthcare to close the door.   All I hope is that the people who need the care get it! Because that is the reason why our parents and us have paid into a system somewhere in Europe for so many years.

Hi Tony,  you have made your position quite clear on this issue.  I was wondering what would be your solution to the situation?

[quote user="cooperlola"]We would need to be pretty sure what we were trying to do!  It's all very well (and I'm happy to do anything I can too) but we would need a pretty clear focus and, more importantly, resources, which are the thing which most are going to be seriously short of at present.  My own instinct is to approach the Spanish lot http://www.ukgovabusesexpats.co.uk/index-viejo.htm and see if we can't join forces, at least in a practical way.  What does everybody think? [/quote]How about we work out what we need to do and apply the personal resources where we need and collect the financial resourses somewhere some how when we have to?  I already work hard for my local community for free but I'll be happy to go for a better Europe, this is my home now.  What is the way forward?

Put us on the list of doers!