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Latest update: 11/12/2011
- David Cameron - European Union - France
British expats react to David Cameron’s ‘non’ to the EU
FRANCE 24 canvasses the opinions of British expatriates living and working in France following the UK’s rejection of a treaty that will bring closer integration in the EU.
By Tony Todd (text)
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday said the UK would not sign a new treaty aimed at tightening fiscal rules across the euro zone.
Is it a determined drift towards greater isolation from Europe, or is the UK right to protect its own interests beyond those of its continental neighbours?
FRANCE 24 spoke to some Britons living and working in France.
Peter Hawkins, freelance writer, Marseille
|
It’s not an irreversible decision, and it’s definitely more about British domestic policy than about the EU. Britain has always been the awkward partner in Europe, and I think Europe actually benefits from having an awkward partner.
From what I’m hearing I think the French are unfazed, unsurprised and unbothered. It’s just the way that it has been reported in the UK that makes Britons feel that their country is a central player on the European scene. It isn’t. Britain is on the fringes of Europe and it always has been.
Jonathan Holburn, entrepreneur, Paris
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I am shocked and disappointed. This riles me incredibly. The UK is the one country in the EU that is the least committed to the euro, a currency whose survival is crucial to Britain’s economic health.
And if we’re not in Europe, where are we? Tied to the US? The euro may have been badly implemented, but Europe is committed to sorting this mess out. We should be pulling out all the stops to help our neighbours, because it is in our interests.
It’s embarrassing that this news confirms the sad truth that it is the eurosceptic little Englanders who are running the ship, and that the UK is just fiddling around on the outskirts of Europe.
Gavin Doughty, banker with HSBC, Paris
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David Cameron was protecting British interests and I believe he did the right thing. In principal, keeping out and protecting the British banking sector from having to contribute a damaging transaction tax is a good idea.
I disagree with many aspects of the banking industry, but a transaction tax, which would have been imposed if the UK signed the new treaty, is a bad idea.
My French colleagues actually appreciate the way the British stand up to people the way Cameron has. And I believe they wish their own leaders would do the same. I think Nicolas Sarkozy is in a corner and Angela Merkel has him exactly where she wants him.
Britain is different from France and Germany, we have an island mentality and the French understand that.
Iain Black, barman at the Bombadier pub, Paris
|
The euro isn’t our currency, so why should we be expected to save it? It’s as simple as that. The overwhelming majority of income from the proposed transaction tax would come from London. Why should the City pay for the survival of the euro?
As for Cameron, I don’t really believe the reasons he gave. I think he was pandering to the right-wing British press, who love him for it, while protecting his rich friends, who will stay rich with the UK keeping its distance from Europe's problems.
As for the French, I honestly believe that they wish they were in the same position as the UK, with the power to say “no, we will not bail you out this time.”
John Airson, tourism executive, Paris
|
I feel that this decision - which let’s face it was inevitable - is just as much motivated by nostalgia for a time gone by, as it is in a getting-off the speeding train/economic-protectionism ploy.
I think it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if more countries attempted to go down the road of economic-independence. This is what most people are crying out for after the recent series of domino-effect economic crises.
I think the French secretly envy the British for taking this path. They trust their politicians about as much as they understand the rules of cricket.
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(40) Reactions
Little england
Who cares anymore about a country that tryed to enslave the world and is now a spent force of x factor idiots.
EU BAILOUT FOR CORPERATE BIGOTLITES
IS DAVID CAMERON FOR CLEANING UP CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT THAT CREATED THE ECONOMIC MESS AND IS HE FOR UNION BLOC JOB CREATION: FOLLOW MY BLOG ON MYSPACE: LATEST UPDATE: 11/12/2011 - DAVID CAMERON - EUROPEAN UNION - FRANCE
British expats react to David Cameron’s ‘non’ to the EU
FRANCE 24 canvasses the opinions of British expatriates living and working in France following the UK’s rejection of a treaty that will bring closer integration in the EU.
By Tony Todd (text)
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday said the UK would not sign a new treaty aimed at tightening fiscal rules across the euro zone.
Is it a determined drift towards greater isolation from Europe, or is the UK right to protect its own interests beyond those of its continental neighbours?
FRANCE 24 spoke to some Britons living and working in France.
Peter Hawkins, freelance writer, Marseille
It’s not an irreversible decision, and it’s definitely more about British domestic policy than about the EU. Britain has always been the awkward partner in Europe, and I think Europe actually benefits from having an awkward partner.
From what I’m hearing I think the French are unfazed, unsurprised and unbothered. It’s just the way that it has been reported in the UK that makes Britons feel that their country is a central player on the European scene. It isn’t. Britain is on the fringes of Europe and it always has been.
Jonathan Holburn, entrepreneur, Paris
I am shocked and disappointed. This riles me incredibly. The UK is the one country in the EU that is the least committed to the euro, a currency whose survival is crucial to Britain’s economic health.
And if we’re not in Europe, where are we? Tied to the US? The euro may have been badly implemented, but Europe is committed to sorting this mess out. We should be pulling out all the stops to help our neighbours, because it is in our interests.
It’s embarrassing that this news confirms the sad truth that it is the eurosceptic little Englanders who are running the ship, and that the UK is just fiddling around on the outskirts of Europe.
Gavin Doughty, banker with HSBC, Paris
David Cameron was protecting British interests and I believe he did the right thing. In principal, keeping out and protecting the British banking sector from having to contribute a damaging transaction tax is a good idea.
I disagree with many aspects of the banking industry, but a transaction tax, which would have been imposed if the UK signed the new treaty, is a bad idea.
My French colleagues actually appreciate the way the British stand up to people the way Cameron has. And I believe they wish their own leaders would do the same. I think Nicolas Sarkozy is in a corner and Angela Merkel has him exactly where she wants him.
Britain is different from France and Germany, we have an island mentality and the French understand that.
Iain Black, barman at the Bombadier pub, Paris
The euro isn’t our currency, so why should we be expected to save it? It’s as simple as that. The overwhelming majority of income from the proposed transaction tax would come from London. Why should the City pay for the survival of the euro?
As for Cameron, I don’t really believe the reasons he gave. I think he was pandering to the right-wing British press, who love him for it, while protecting his rich friends, who will stay rich with the UK keeping its distance from Europe's problems.
As for the French, I honestly believe that they wish they were in the same position as the UK, with the power to say “no, we will not bail you out this time.”
John Airson, tourism executive, Paris
I feel that this decision - which let’s face it was inevitable - is just as much motivated by nostalgia for a time gone by, as it is in a getting-off the speeding train/economic-protectionism ploy.
I think it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if more countries attempted to go down the road of economic-independence. This is what most people are crying out for after the recent series of domino-effect economic crises.
I think the French secretly envy the British for taking this path. They trust their politicians about as much as they understand the rules of cricket.
UK is a scapegoat
I don't know how the facts are being reported on the Continent, but it seems to me that the UK has been deliberately forced into a trap, whereby the UK is painted as the bad guy.
This is simply creating a scapegoat, to hide the reality that Sarkozy & Merkel have absolutely no credible plan to save the Euro.
All David Cameron did was stand up for British interests, in protecting our financial centre of London from a blatant attack (the proposed financial transaction tax) that would be paid mainly by Britain. Obviously no British Prime Minister could have agreed to that.
Most Brits are happy to be isolated from a rapidly sinking ship, with Merkel & Sarkozy at the helm. They seem determined to take things to the brink, when we all know there is only one outcome - the ECB will have to print money & buy Bonds, otherwise the whole thing will collapse. Will they just get on with it, please! And stop blaming the British - our vision is simply to be part of a free trade zone, and nothing more. Brits have never wanted any of the integration inflicted on us by the EU, and hence most people in the UK would now rather withdraw from the EU altogether, then we will get on so much better.
'Non' to the Euro
David Cameron is absolutely right to reject this new 'treaty'. As a concept Europe is in a mess from which it will not emerge any time in a hurry. France will probably soon have a new president with very different ideas, Italy now has an unelected government imposed by Brussels, while both Greece and Spain have their hands now completely tied. The Eurozone is decidedly not a good place to be
British expats react to David Cameron’s ‘non’ to the EU
That bloke who said the British think they're at the centre of the EU needs to come back to Britain for a while. I believe we see ourselves as increasingly irrelevant in the EU as the eurozone introspects over its problems. I also think we think that is no bad thing and we are lucky to be out of it.
What will the average Frenchman say when you point out that the EU Commission will approve the French budget before the National Assembly does ?
And Brits react to David Cameron’s ‘non’ to the EU
What Treaty is that - No one will know what that Treaty will contain until after the event - and that's when you are told - You should have read the small print. We've been had too many times to fall again for EU duplicity
British expats react to David Cameron’s ‘non’ to the EU
Perhaps if more EU members actually realised what a "Fiscal Contract" will mean for their countries in the long term, they to would have voted NON.
Britain and Europe
Speaking as an 'ex-pat' property professional who has been full time resident in SW France for over a decade the decision of David Cameron came as no surprise. Yes I think it is 'little Englander' isolationism , yes I think it is pandering to his Right Wing, and I think it is sad that Britain doesnt take on board the need for a powerful united European block to counter both US Imperialism and the rapidly emerging dominance of China and the East. This attitude is wonderfully summed up by a news headline often used in the UK in times of bad weather .... "Storms in the Channel, The Continent cut off" ... when the reality is that the Continent still continues to trade with each other - by road - and its is actually Britain that is 'cut off'.
The EU dinosaur and the Euro
I love France and live here most of the time. I voted to join the Common Market, but I abhor the dinosaur the EU has become and find my opinion is shared by most of my French friends, who did after all vote against the EU constitution before it was rebranded as a treaty.
The Euro was always flawed and has made life much more difficult for those nations with debt problems. It will never work except perhaps between a few countries with similar economies and fiscal structures.
Cameron taking the stand that he did was not anti-EU, but an act of common sense. It is the very act of trying to force upon the EU electorate startegies which they do not want that tcauses these problems in the first place. I love Europe for its variety of cultures. This variety will always mitigate against a federal Europe which the unelected leaders in the EU are trying to achieve via the back door.
The looney fringes of Europe
Britain has once again shown lack of leadership and a total ignorance of what it means to be European. They now join the xenophobic 'Republican' party of Ireland on the looney fringes of Europe. My French, Irish and German friends are aghast at their attitude. Lets get on without them!! I'm European and proud of it.