What happens if Britain leaves the EU?

Sorry… I'm not a Brit. Aussie turned French. My mum has just arrived. News: 11 killed in a hot air balloon crash. Yesterday a chef died after musroom poisoning. I stopped the 'news' full stop from any country since I'd had enough of the 'pointless murders'' and, AHEM! BONUSES PAID TO UNWORTHY BANKERS being reported on both the radio and tv here. It appears to be the same in many countries!!! Those messengers of doom of which you speak are many of the very French friends I have who have no positive concept of a European future. No positive concept of any future at all. Where exactly is the difference with English news?

MMmm - there is some accordance that India may also take over France too you know… Impérialist dreams still remain a pipe dream with the French aristocracy too n'est ce pas? The colonies are destined to make their mark in the coming years.. if a meteorite doesn't get us first ;-)

Every time I've ever done anything that required any sort of certificate in France, it's had to be less than 3 months' old - except for a Dr's cert for sport which had a lee way of 6 months!!!

True Roy - having received my French nationality in 2000 after receiving 'originals' from both Aussie and NZ I know that you can get any said originals easily. There's no point in telling them where to stuff their 'whatever,' they don't care, having never known anything else. Better off getting your nationality and voting I say ;-)

thanks brian -)

Or Barclays France, better than the parent and less likely to go bottom up than ING who have had problems in the recent past.

Nice one Christian, you're echoing what quite a few of us have said and feel ;-)

I think it's just in the case of an application for naturalisation, I've had no problems with any of my certificates that are years old for other things. Many things are ridiculous for NO reason, my french OH thinks they are too and no-one can explain why, that's just the way it is!

Let me "declare my interest".
Dutch myself, and the OH is American.
Been living in France for donkeys years now (just worked out it's been more than half my life.....)
My first wife was English, and we lived for several years in the UK (job on Concorde), then in Paris, but still reading the ST, Observer and even the NOTW (for a joke) at the time, listening to the cricket on the car radio, and going back to see MIL just about every year. So I did keep track of the goings-on in the UK, and still do (read SFN, the BBC web site, and occasionally watch BBC News on the sat).

So I'm reading this 'thread' more or less 'from the outside, looking in'.

I'm somewhat amazed and amused at the discussion about 'the UK quitting the EU'.... Who cares?

If you live in France, work in France, earn your money here, pay your 'social contributions' and taxes here, what the UK does is close to being irrelevant.
If you're living here, but relying mostly or entirely on a UK pension (or investment income, etc.), what you should worry about is the sterling/euro exchange rate, not your nationality, nor your residency....

As to "integrating"... we moved to a small village in the South of France (Languedoc) about 15 years ago. While the house we bought was still being 'updated' (cue : "A Year in Provence"....) we stayed in a 'gite' and already made friends that way... then went to the local 'Foire des Associations' and discovered there was a local "archaeological society" (part of my interests, and part of my OH's professional background. Even more interesting since the village dates from years before C. Julius Caesar arrived in the area.....).
Next thing we knew, we'd signed up as members, and met some very interesting people who became very close friends..... almost family.... we've shared Xmas and New Year with them for years now.
Oh, and yes, I'm now president of the Association, and I even ran as a candidate in the local elections (nope... we lost).
So, forget about being 'British' and an 'expat'... become part of the local community.

CJ

merci -)

La Banque Postale but I don't hink they have an English speaking dept. ot if you want to do everything online ING direct ;-)

off subject i know.... in your opinion Andrew which bank is the one to go with preferably with an english speaking department.

James you do run at walls a bit much. Norway has a few years oil and gas left and then what? Their population is very small and industrial sector minute. So careful. Switzerland is in sharp decline as well, as my Swiss family too well know. An enormous part of Swiss manufacturing is no longer is that country and several of their major companies have been bought by large international conglomerates. It has been the mass 'importation' of foreign labout that keeps them going and the population are getting fed up of that so that the government is beginning to clamp down already. They both export more in proportion t o other countries on the basis of population size leading the demography based statistics. England and Wales, but not Scotland who already have other legislation in place for trading including repatriation of oil, gas and North Sea territories, do not have the production base on which to achieve what you say and to get into the competitive market your two examples are in would not be easy. That is the right wing's eternal bluff instead of saying the remaining UK would become a US satellite, the so-called 53rd state that some people already call it. If you want that, then it's yours. I am a European... I also have the right of permanent residency in Switzerland because of my wife and children being Swiss, but we do not even think that that is a safe bet, so we'll stick with what we have.

Common Market was the UK's name and a formal choice of 'common name for all countries' was still on the table. It was an entirely bureaucratic choice that actually engendered no change. I have the entire histoy on my bookshelf nearby and checked. All changes were negotiated between nations and only the Common Market that was rename EEC has changed complete with new treaties. You and I signed up for nothing other than voting yes or no to join, whereby I did not vote because I was not in the UK at the time in fact.

That is what I remember too! We voted YES (or NO!) to join the Common Market. That then "morphed" into the EEC and then the EU. So after voting for fair trading terms we then find outselves part of a Federal Europe!! That was NOT what we signed up for!!

I would suggest you check your arsenal as well as neither was there talk of a Eurozone --- Federal Europe, handing or handing national power over to a "committee".

As I remember it, Ted Heath put joining the " COMMON MARKET" to the people as a way of trading with our European neighbour on a level playing field with no Tariffs and no hold ups at the borders, allowing Europeans to travel each others country without let or hindrance.

Thats the way way I remember it and thats the the reason I voted yes.

all that's left is a rather small insignificant little island floating around in the Atlantic somewhere off Europe (rather like a punctured inflatable dinghy) looking for a place to anchor, preferable in sheltered waters where the locals speak English... go on stick another star on the flag! my worst nightmare but I think the idea may well appeal to many back in Blighty :-O

Now where did I put those naturalisation forms...!

James,

I agree with all that you say, Europe as we know it is a dinosaur wanting to die, Athough Europeans conquered much of the world and raped it of its wealth and then France and Germany decided in their own ways to conquer and control the whole of Europe but neither Napoleon nor Kiaser Bill or Hitler managed it there is still this "WANT",

I do honestly think the Germans, with the French as lap dogs, want to control Europe, but without the thuggery of the past, they have proved they can rise from the ashes on at least two occasions already and now think the time is right for a peaceful conquer, ( if you understand my meaning)

As you rightly say, we buy from Europe more than we export so I don't think trade will suffer greatly as a result should we leave.

We have to realise that in this day and age countries are NOT going to come to us, cap in hand, and beg to trade with us, we are,in the true light of day, a second rate country now, gone as such is the Empire, gone as such, is the BIG WHITE QUEEN no longer holds sway over the likes of India etc. We have to realise that.

There was no vote for EFTA but there was for the EEC, so get your ammunition in line before shooting askew!

Look, every dog has its day. In this case the English have had a few good centuries and now their UK is in decline. So are several other EU countries including France. The Uk making special trading deals with the rest of the world would depend on there being a manufacturing sector that could compete. Long gone. As a financial centre EVEN Zurich has lost the edge (ask my Swiss wife about the moaning from her compatriots...) and what were once 'Third World' countries have developed exponentially and are overtaking the West. Will it last? Well as long as there is a buyer's market, of course it will. Can the Uk get back in there? It would take too long given the present economic cycle we are in. The lost decade of slow growth will hit the UK far more than most in or out of the EU and indeed 'negative growth' (which oxymoronic and meaningless in real terms, bit like 'nearly winning' when coming second out of two...) has been predited for the UK by some World Bank panel experts. James, the UK needs the EU and beyond and if they pulled out then the competition here in Europe would pull out all stops to ensure that they competed unfairly to get exactly those markets the UK would be after. There is no longer fairplay on the agenda, the EU would dry up the UK's market and have the diversity to do so. The 'British' have done their bit for the history of the world as others before and now need to take their place with grace along with Greeks, Romans, etc and actually our French friends must also climb down off their perch and do the same, as a century and a bit ago the Spanish did and a while later the Portuguese, who both had the blessing of the papacy in Rome to divide the entire 'New World' amongst themselves (read up on that and I ensure you that development studies students all learn that as a basic bit on knowledge...). Cycles happen and the English one has been long and is ending. That dog has had its day.