Sancho Panza Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 i 10/10/14 'A French parliamentary commission of inquiry is due to publish its report on emigration on Tuesday, but Le Figaro reported yesterday that because of a political dispute among its members over the reasons for the exodus, a “counter-report” by the opposition right-wing is to be released as an annex. Centre-right deputies are convinced that the people who are the “lifeblood” of France are leaving because of “the impression that it’s impossible to succeed”, said Luc Chatel, secretary general of the UMP, who chaired the commission. There is “an anti-work mentality, absurd fiscal pressure, a lack of promotion prospects, and the burden of debt hanging over future generations,” he told Le Figaro. However, the report’s author Yann Galut, a Socialist deputy, said the UMP was unhappy because it had been unable to prove that a “massive exile” had taken place since the election of President François Hollande in 2012. What is certain is the steady rise in the number of emigrants across all sections of society, from young people looking for jobs to entrepreneurs to pensioners. According to a French Foreign Ministry report published at the end of last month, the top five destinations are the UK, Switzerland, the US, Belgium and Germany. The French consulate in London has estimated that up to 400,000 French nationals live in the capital, a number equal to the population of France’s sixth largest city. The Foreign Ministry recorded 1.6 million expats at the end of last year. But that figure only includes people who had registered at French consulates abroad. “So the real figure is twice as high,” says Hélène Charveriat, the delegate-general of the Union of French Citizens Abroad. She told The Independent that while the figure of 2.5 million expatriates is “not enormous”, what is more troubling is the increase of about 2 per cent each year. “Young people feel stuck, and they want interesting jobs. Businessmen say the labour code is complex and they’re taxed even before they start working. Pensioners can also pay less tax abroad,” she says. France’s unemployment rate is hovering around 10 per cent. As for high-earners, almost 600 people subject to a wealth tax on assets of more than €800,000 (£630,000) left France in 2012, 20 per cent more than the previous year. Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister, announced in London this week that the top income tax rate of 75 per cent would be abolished next January after a number of business tycoons and celebrities moved out. Mrs Charveriat said the French exiles she had spoken to might agree “a bit” with Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis who was forced to apologise after saying that France was “finished, sclerotic and downbeat”. “But people aren’t pessimistic,” she added, stressing that the French who live abroad remain patriotic and that while they engage in “French-bashing” among themselves, they are defensive when foreigners engage in such criticism.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sounds like I need to move to France. Hope they have decent broadband in the rural bits now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) The French consulate in London has estimated that up to 400,000 French nationals live in the capital, a number equal to the population of France’s sixth largest city. One wonders why UKIP arent attacking the French for stealing our homes and jobs and sh4gging our women. Actually saw Jack Straw of all people suggesting UK needs to suspend Shengen last night Sounds like I need to move to France. Hope they have decent broadband in the rural bits now You wont be able to once Farage has closed the borders. (or Spain, Ireland, Cyprus etc) Edited October 11, 2014 by R K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtlessmanc Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) One wonders why UKIP arent attacking the French for stealing our homes and jobs and sh4gging our women. Actually saw Jack Straw of all people suggesting UK needs to suspend Shengen last night In my experience it is the other way round, I have three English friends who married French women they met in Manchester...If you speak to the increasing number of French I encounter around the city they all blame French employment law and bureacracy, essentially the country is a nation of sole traders as taking on an employee is a nightmare... Edited October 11, 2014 by debtlessmanc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 A friend of mine spent 9 months waiting for various builders to turn up at his home in France to re-tile the roof. He is currently doing it himself after having given up waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 If you speak to the increasing number of French I encounter around Manchester they all blame French employment law and bureacracy, essentially the country is a nation of sole traders as taking on an employee is a nightmare... Yep. During the dot.con bust a US tech I was contracting at wanted to fire loads of people in Europe and France was top of their list - but it was so difficult to fire anyone, and so expensive, that they just fired loads in the UK instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 You wont be able to once Farage has closed the borders. (or Spain, Ireland, Cyprus etc) Farage won't control French immigration policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 My BIL has a place in France, and in June we were talking to a neighbour of his we now know quite well. She is a highly intelligent retired Frenchwoman who worked overseas, inc. in the US, for years, and she was in despair about the state of the country. Of course we did not join in any bashing, saying how lovely the area was (Burgundy) and she said, Yes, but... At the time there was a rail strike, and several members of a large family party were unable to get their pre booked trains here and there - it was a case of turning up at the station and hoping one might eventually turn up. OTOH someone coming from Paris found he was able to get a train to Dijon, but was unable to buy a ticket, and although he had the 50 odd euros ready in his pocket all the way, nobody ever asked for it. One thing I do find irritating, even in very touristy areas, is the inability to get anything to eat after the 'sacred' lunch hour. After we had been very delayed one day we did find a cafe saying they could do a croque Monsieur, but the waitress was so sulky and grumpy, and clearly did not want to be bothered, that my (French) SIL was livid and insisted on walking out in disgust. I was really looking forward to that croque M, too. :-( I honestly can't think of any other touristy place in any other country where nobody can be a*sed to give hungry tourists with money to spend anything to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Ham & cheese toasty Mrs B? You're a cheap date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Farage won't control French immigration policy. Naif statement. Once youve p1ssed in the well, all the water is contaminated. Marine Le Pen will likely control French immigration policy. Once you go down this route it only ends badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Once you go down this route it only ends badly. Down this road on a summer day in 1944, the soldiers came. Nobody lives here now. They stayed only a few hours. When they had gone, the community, which had lived for a thousand years, was dead. This is Oradour-sur-Glane, in France. The day the soldiers came, the people were gathered together. The men were taken to garages and barns, the women and children were led down this road, and they were driven into this church. Here, they heard the firing as their men were shot. Then they were killed too. A few weeks later, many of those who had done the killing were themselves dead, in battle. They never rebuilt Oradour. Its ruins are a memorial. Its martyrdom stands for thousands upon thousands of other martyrdoms in Poland, in Russia, in Burma, China, in a world at war. I've been Oradour-sur-Glane. In the church, where the women and children were locked in before the church was set ablaze, the church bell now lies in a huge melted lump on the floor. Doesn't bear thinking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 A friend of mine spent 9 months waiting for various builders to turn up at his home in France to re-tile the roof. He is currently doing it himself after having given up waiting. I take it they don't have many hard working reasonably priced polish builders to do the work in France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shindigger Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I hope my French ex never sets foot in this country again. I will be out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I take it they don't have many hard working reasonably priced polish builders to do the work in France. Odd that as France and Poland historically have had very close ties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shindigger Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Do French lasses shave these days? Yes. She shaved about £3k in holidaze etc off of me before id had enough. Very good shaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Ham & cheese toasty Mrs B? You're a cheap date Yes, I guess that was my not-so-secret allure for Mr B... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Yes. She shaved about £3k in holidaze etc off of me before id had enough. Very good shaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I've been Oradour-sur-Glane. Drove past it this afternoon. I have to say I've never stopped when driving past but it must be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campervanman Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 It is interesting in a morbid way. I took my grand daughters there this summer, they asked to go. The journey back was unusually quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 It is interesting in a morbid way. I took my grand daughters there this summer, they asked to go. The journey back was unusually quiet. I checked the map, I drive reguarly by Bellac where Oradour is signposted but I see it is a bit further away than I thought. I will have to stop one day. I see some new houses overlook the old town, must be a glum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 It is interesting in a morbid way. I took my grand daughters there this summer, they asked to go. The journey back was unusually quiet. I just read the Wikipedia entry One eye witness account said the SS crucified a baby within the massacre Of all the depravity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richc Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Odd that as France and Poland historically have had very close ties. The French response to the wage-lowering effects of the free movement of labour has been to ensure that no one, either French or Polish, can get a job. If no one can be hired due to the enormous amount of red-tape and employment taxes, then the increase in labour supply won't decrease wages. France does not have a debt problem, or if it does, it's half the size of the UK's debt problem. The issue in France is that they've made it impossible to work unless you're one of the lucky few with the right connections and contacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipllman Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 A lot of French moving to NL in my experience - including corporates, e.g. Danone setting up Dantrade for fiscal efficiency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damik Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Farage won't control French immigration policy. sensitive issues like these are always based on reciprocity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damik Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 A lot of French moving to NL in my experience - including corporates, e.g. Danone setting up Dantrade for fiscal efficiency Great EU feature -> businesses and people will migrate to states with good governance, low corruption and low taxation ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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