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EUROPEAN UNION

EU orders France to reform pensions and jobs

The EU issued some strict orders for France to get its house in order on Wednesday. The European Commission told France to overhaul its costly pension system and loosen up its inflexible labour market but there was at least some good news for Paris.

EU orders  France to reform pensions and jobs
Protesters on the streets of Paris calling for protection of pensions and wages in the civil service. Photo: Pierre Verdy/AFP

France, struggling in recession, must reform its costly pension system and free up a rigid labour market to put its economy back on track and stabilise strained public finances, the European Commission said Wednesday.

French President François Hollande hit back however saying the European Commission could not "dictate" orders.

"The European Commission cannot dictate to us what we have to do. It can simply say that France must balance its public accounts," he said.

"As far as structural reforms are concerned, especially pension reforms, it is up to us alone to say which is the best path to attain this objective," he said, adding that talks on the subject were ongoing with social partners to achieve this with "consensus, justice and responsibility."

Thomas Klau, head of the Paris office for the European Council on Foreign Relations told The Local it's time for Hollande to act.

"Hollande has said himself that the pension system needs reforming and the labour market is something they have began to tackle all be it gingerly but he really needs to go for it now," Klau said.

"Pension reform has been a longstanding priority but its obviously a sensitive issue in France and can mobilize huge opposition. Most countries have not fully dealt with the problem of the aging population and France is definitely lagging behind," Klau added.

Equally important, Klau says is labour market reform.

"There are far too many young people in France stuck in badly or even unpaid internships or low salaried jobs. This is an issue that must be dealt with," said Klau.

The Commission also gave France two years beyond its original deadline to bring a budget deficit estimated at 3.9 percent of gross domestic product this year, to 3.6 percent of GDP in 2014 and 2.8 percent in 2015 – back below the 3.0-percent EU limit.

Current estimates put the deficit – the shortfall between government revenue and spending – at 3.9 percent of GDP this year and 4.2 percent next, with the economy set to shrink 0.1 percent in 2013.

The Commission said that to meet the new targets, the French government had to build on the steps already taken to liberalise the labour market, streamline the fiscal system and remove restrictive practices in the economy.

A key first step, however, will be for Paris to take steps "by the end of this year to reform the pension system and ensure it is in equilibrium not later than 2020", it said.

As an ageing population pushes pension costs ever higher, the government will have to index payments, adjust the retirement age — already creeping up steadily — and generally reduce the system's overall costs, all at the same time as not increasing the burden on employers.

Additionally, France will have to continue to reduce labour costs for employers, such as their social security contributions; boost services and export sector competitiveness, especially among small- and medium-size companies; and streamline the tax system.

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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