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EUROPEAN UNION

One tax to rule them all: How Macron sees the future of the EU

From taxes on internet giants to six-month stints for European students in neighbouring countries, French President Emmanuel Macron set out wide-ranging proposals for EU reforms on Tuesday. And he even believes there is a place for the UK.

Published: 26 September 2017 20:04 CEST
One tax to rule them all: How Macron sees the future of the EU
Photo: AFP

New bodies, less bureaucracy

Macron pitched a less bureaucratic, simplified European Union — saying that when he was done with his reforms, he could not imagine Britain not wanting to be a part of the union.

He outlined an ambitious overhaul of the institutions of the 19-member eurozone, giving it its own finance minister and a budget that could be invested on infrastructure and other big projects.

These ideas previously had the cautious backing of his key European partner, Chancellor Angela Merkel, but that was before Germany's election in which Merkel's party suffered heavy losses at the hands of eurosceptics.

Beyond the eurozone, Macron suggested a string of new organisations, some of which have already been mooted by the EU.

He called for a European prosecutor to investigate cross-border terrorism and for a new EU-wide asylum agency — reprising ideas put forward by the European Commission.

He also proposed a new border police force to deal with the migrant crisis and oversee the return of failed asylum seekers. It was not clear how such a body would work with the EU's current border guard and coastguard force.

And he wants a new innovation agency that would work on developing technologies like artificial intelligence.

More broadly he said Europe was already “multi-speed” — with some countries seeking closer integration than others — “and we shouldn't be afraid to say this and to want it”.

Closer defence ties 

Macron proposed setting up an armed “rapid response force” to defend the EU as well as a shared defence budget and common military strategy.

The bloc approved the idea of a rapid response force a decade ago but it was never deployed. Macron would want to see it relaunched by 2020.

Separately he is seeking a joint EU civil defence force that could respond to natural disasters such as the hurricanes that hit European overseas territories in the Caribbean in recent weeks.

Big tax plans

Macron devoted a significant part of his speech to setting out ideas for tax reforms, seeking to harmonise rules across the EU.

In a move likely to raise ire from low-tax countries like Ireland, he proposed a single corporate tax band by 2020, saying members who refused to implement it should have their aid from Brussels cut.

Macron also wants a new type of tax on technology giants like Facebook and Apple, based on how much value they create in a country rather than the profits they record there.

And he called for a tax on financial transactions to pay for overseas aid, reigniting a long-running debate on expanding a levy already in place in France and Britain.

Finally, he wants a carbon tax on highly-polluting products entering Europe, as well as on industries that burn a lot of fossil fuels within the bloc.

Youngsters around Europe

Young people were at the heart of the speech, with Macron saying he wanted all students to spend six months in another European country learning their language and culture, and exploring the landscape.

The continent should aim for all students to speak two European languages by 2024, he said, proposing new European university networks that would make it easier to do bilingual degrees and study abroad.

More democracy

Macron wants “democratic conventions” organised across Europe within the next six months, to spark national and local debates around what citizens want from the EU.

He also wants transnational lists of MEPs from 2019 — using the quota left behind by Britain when its lawmakers head home after Brexit — with half of parliament to be elected from these lists from 2024.

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.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
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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