x 
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hello to everybody, so to get back on track of what the GJ wants; Well try this. If you could change one thing in France so the country would be better what would it be? It can be political, social, finance, anything please tell me what would it be? Because thatās what everyone is asking them and as no one has ever asked them that question they need time to reflect & organise. It will be very interesting and helpful so please give me your thoughts even the funny ones
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Reduce employer cotisations.
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Thatās a really good one.
It would encourage employers to employ more people and and they would be able to afford to pay them more thus increasing wealth across the board. Higher wages would also mean more tax for the government.
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Yep they currently run at around 60% of salary in France - bloody joke - you donāt actually employ people, you adopt them! As a comparison, employer contributions in the UK are around 12%.
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Cotisations sociales are what funds pensions health care etc etc. Be careful what you wish for!
" As a comparison, employer contributions in the UK are around 12%."
I donāt see much to envy over the channel, sorry.
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Not being one of the trillionaires or billionaires amongst us and being a relative newcomer then I would probably find it difficult to come up with just one thing that could change France for the betterā¦(I live in Brittany which I know is part of France but there is a distinct cultural identity here which Iām also very sensitive to and I see many protesters in Paris wrapped in the Brittany flag and I seek to understand)
I think the discomfort and unease isnāt just in Franceā¦nor ukā¦nor Europeā¦billions of people the world over know that something is terribly wrong and that life just shouldnāt be about struggling like thisā¦
Looking forwards to the discussion John and Thankyou for askingā¦x 
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Iām rather concerned about healthcare privatisation here in France. At a routine visit for an eye check, and without an eye examination, my 75 year old wife was referred urgently to an eye clinic for further opinion. The eye clinic has recently been outsourced to a private ophthalmic company. She was seen by a consultant eye surgeon and although she has no visual defect and only wears glasses for reading, she was told she needed urgent eye surgery on both eyes to remove bilateral cataracts.
Frightened and confused, she agreed to undergo surgery within two weeks and a bed was booked for her. Although we have a mutuelle for admission she had to pay 90 euros for the consultantās five minute interview (no examination and no reimbursement of his āprivate consultancyā fee) . They did however perform tests on her eyes.
On the eve of the operation we both had second thoughts about the operation, and agreed we had been subject to the ābumās rushā, as the clinic was choc-a-bloc with old people lined up for ocular surgery, like a production line. We are both experienced nurses with experience of how some private sector operators in UK see people as cash-cows.
On operating day my wife told the admitting nurse that she was cancelling the operation, and they were outraged. āYou canāt to that, the bed is booked!ā āJust watch usā was the reply.
If this is going to be the future of the French health service, and it may well be for all I know, I will join the Gilets Jaunes to protest it. I also notice that although I pay my MT 25 euro just to renew a prescription (I donāt blame her) I now only get 12,50 euro reimbursed, and I am 80.
Whatās going on?
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You are quite correct Simon but, VĆ©ro has summed it up. The French healthcare system, something to which we are proud of (still just about top of the WHO list) plus public services, roads etc etc all need to be paid for.
I donāt wish to see any deterioration in quality well, no more than we are seeing with the budget and staff cuts so any French government need to find other ways.
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As you said, Mr Bird the french health care system is the best in the world & the doctors nurses etc do a fantastic job they deserve every penny they get. For me, itās the pharmaceutical industry that is ruining the social security when you look at the profits they earn it is scandalous that they can earn so much money out of sick people, and the heart and cancer foundations that have been given billions in funding over the past 40 years and still no cure too many things that donāt add up for me
If I could change one thing here, then it would be to put in system a free formation for mothers who have stayed at home to bring up their children and want to restart their professional career. I have met a lot of mothers who have 38years + who find it very difficult to find a good job as they face competition from the younger generation which makes them feel old and useless . For me mothers have sacrificed their professional career so itās normal that we help them with their future
And a good idea I heard yesterday, it was bring
back the ISF but if the person can prove that he has invested in France then he gets a tax credit for the sum he has invested in France and not in the CAC40
Ok vero point taken but why is it the employer takes the main hit - or have I missed something?
Just donāt get that one - surely farmers are some of the main property / land owners? Why, being one yourself, would you want to go back to the old, lower trigger, system?
Their choice!!
Surely, people who have severe cataracts are aware of them.
I have friends here who have needed the op and have one done and then the other a fortnight later.
In UK it is common practice to wait six months between ops.
Reduce bureaucracy.
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" I could change one thing here, then it would be to put in system a free formation for mothers who have stayed at home to bring up their children and want to restart their professional career."
That already exists. The GRETA is free, higher education is free, if you have 3 children you can sign up unconditionally to the competitions for the civil service (A, B & C stream) without having to show you passed the Bac, even. There are all sorts of training programmes available whatever your age.
We also have free provision for children aged 3 up from 9 - 4.30 (at least) so there is time to get yourself qualified or have a part-time job etc.
I say this as a working mother of 5 by the way.
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I heard a programme on Radio 4 last night which showed that after the election of President Reagan Newt Gingrich started the new confrontational era of politics.
It started after the televising of debates in the Senate and the House.
He would make accusatory speeches when the House was nearly empty and the convention was only to show the person speaking.
This gave the impression that what he was saying was not being denied.
It got worse when a convention of not personally attacking others was removed. The convention of working together for the good of the country was totally lost.
So when we look at the state of politics in the USA and we complain about our own Parliament behaving like naughty children, perhaps we can realise that it is because we have given them an audience and they are playing to the gallery.
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āinvested in France and not in the CAC40ā
But John the CAC40 is companies which are French or based in France, it is investing in France if you buy shares in EDF or LVMH or Thomson etc.
The CAC40 is just an index of the French market economy.
That is why Macron said you should be rewarded for investing in French companies (taking a risk) by paying less tax on your investment in industry and more on eg patrimony ie stuff you own where your money is just tied up .
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