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So far Bart Hulley has created 428 blog entries.

Bonjour and hello

By |2018-01-11T12:48:05+00:00January 11th, 2018|Life in England, Life in France|

If you've been visiting this site for some time you'll know that it began some 12 years ago, coinciding with my emigration to the republic of France. The domain I chose to publish upon (englishmaninstrasbourg.com) took a great deal of reflection at the time. After all, presenting myself as English, as opposed to British, might have suggested that I was a bit of a closet nationalist. However, the nothing could be further from the truth. At that time, I was disappointed see how the policy of devolution in the UK had  dismembered the national identity. As I often pointed out, to those who defended the creation of the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments on the basis of distinct cultural and linguistic lines, in what way is someone from Cornwall like someone from Tyneside? Should Newcastle and Penzance not become the seats of local government too? I was all for devolution, but not along coveted nationalistic boundaries. For, as we have seen, this has simply strengthened the idea of nations within our nation and raised the spectre of racial purity [...]

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Banking question

By |2017-12-15T08:51:06+00:00December 15th, 2017|Life in France|

I have a question that I can't find the answer to online. Perhaps there's someone out there who's an expert on EU/French law who can help me answer this one? Barclays in France are insisting I fill out a w8-Ben for my kid, who is under 18 and a British citizen. I am reluctant to approve it as I don't see why the IRS need know about a foreign child opening an account in a foreign country. I can't find any information online about my legal obligations on this (in France or the EU) - but surely this contravenes a data-protection or right-to-privacy law somewhere? Children should be protected surely? Anyone know about this kind of stuff?

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Brexit Breakthrough?

By |2017-12-08T09:13:55+00:00December 8th, 2017|Brexit|

So the breakthrough deal is this: The UK is going to 'align' itself with the single market so that there is no hard border in Ireland. So it will be like being in the EEA - with the UK having to obey the rules to keep trading, but having no say in what those rules are. The only difference as far as I can tell will be that the European Court of Justice will not be the final court of arbitration - but rather some new court that takes the ECJ's views into account. If the UK do change something that breaks the rules they'll have to let NI decide what to do - which although no one dares to use the term - would give them special status with one foot in the UK and one foot in the EU. There will need to be an EU body set up to ensure the UK is actually obeying the rules and that untaxed goods aren't making it into the EU via the NI/UK backdoor. There will need to be [...]

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What is Ouigo?

By |2017-08-29T11:53:43+00:00August 29th, 2017|Life in France|

While the TGV might be the fastest and most comfortable way of travelling around France it is far from being the cheapest. A typical return journey from Strasbourg to Paris will set you back around 130€ for an off peak ticket, typically booked in advance. With these sorts of prices it's not surprising that the government has had to bow to pressure to provide more affordable long distance travel options for the nation. As minister of finance, President Emmanuel Macron deregulated the buses to finally introduce the nation to the joy of long distance coach journeys. Previously, the only way to travel by coach across the country was by charter or on an international stopping service. The reason for this was that previous governments did not want anyone directly competing with the railways. The Ouibus and Flixbus networks are the net result of this new legislation. Although, Ouibus is still operated by SNCF, the French railway company. French protectionism lives on! Happily, cash strapped travellers need not despair, there is an alternative to sitting in a musty box, with [...]

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It’s not too late to move to France

By |2017-06-27T16:35:02+00:00June 27th, 2017|Brexit|

Having successfully submitted my dossier for French naturalisation I am somewhat ambivalent to the proposals put forward by the British Government in round one of the UK's Brexit negotiations, not least because, provided my application to become French is approved, they will have precisely no affect on me nor my immediate family. I do have a great deal of empathy though for those living abroad, in the UK or in the EU, for whom the nonsense document published yesterday is supposed to safeguard "the position of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU." - a document that reads like a C-grade high school Social Science project. Frankly, if anyone wanted clarity on the coming arrangements for citizens they need only to refer to section 33 which, as I am sure you will agree, couldn't be more vague: "The ability of EU citizens arriving after the specified date subsequently to obtain further or indefinite permission to stay will depend on the rules in place at the time at which they apply. These will be [...]

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France Insoumise or the other (national) front

By |2017-05-09T13:32:05+00:00May 9th, 2017|Life in France|

If you are to believe the enthused youth electorate, the party lead by Jean-Luc Melenchon, know today as France Insoumise - or previously as the Front de Gauche (The Left-wing National Front) - are going to be the main opposition in the National Assembly come the elections in June. This belief despite their main man only gaining enough support to come forth in the Presidential elections and currently having only 10 representatives in the assembly. It seems that they are banking on a surge of support from disenfranchised voters following the collapse of France's two traditional political forces - The Socialist Party and The Republicans - and a belief that Macron only won by default (and not through policy). However, such gung-ho optimism should be pared back given a quick reading of their manifesto - which will make worrying reading for anyone with more than two pennies to rub together. Here's what they are currently posting as their "10 emblematic proposals" (I have translated from their very enigmatic French): A referendum to define the 6th Republic A new right [...]

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Ni-Ni, Nazi or Banker?

By |2017-05-02T07:40:58+00:00May 2nd, 2017|Life in France|

Some might say that the French election has taken a turn for the worse this past week, though the truth is this has little to do with the candidates. It is more a case of the French electorate taking a turn for the worse. In my ten plus years in France never have I been so aware of the stupidity of your average French citizen. Alas, I knew this day would come. One of the factors driving me away from the United Kingdom was this same realisation - that your average British voter has about as much between his or her ears as a cockroach when it comes to politics. Only now, having mastered the French language and made an effort to understand French law and politics, do I realise that the population of France are about as clued-up as child of six when it comes to understanding how a country functions. Having integrated myself into French society I now have the unfortunate occasion to see acquaintances post their support for Le Pen on their Facebook time lines. I [...]

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One week to go

By |2017-04-16T20:25:19+00:00April 16th, 2017|Life in France|

So we're a mere 7 days away from decision time. So, even though I have yet to qualify as a member of the electorate, I thought I would give you a quick biased run down of the 11 candidates hoping to become France's premier. Nathalie Arthaud Party: Communist Fight Club Day Job: Economics teacher Crazy rating: 5/5 (An economics teacher representing the communists? Seriously?!) Policy highlights: Plans to outlaw redundancy and let the workers have a say in the running of their employer's business. Free money for poor people. The end of capitalism, etc. Electability: 0/5 Philippe Poutou Party: The Anti-capitalists Day Job: Factory Hand Crazy rating: 5/5 Policy highlights: Overthrow capitalism through revolution and all that sort of thing... Electability: 0/5 Jean-Luc Mélenchon Party: The Super-Socialists for a Rebellious France Day Job: Politician Crazy rating: 4/5 (Former bog-standard socialist turned ultra-socialist) Policy highlights: Create constitutional chaos by forming the 6th Republic through a referendum. Ditch EU, Euro and Nato. Tax the rich so heavily they'll want to leave France. Electability: 3/5 (surprisingly popular with young voters looking to [...]

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Unhappy article 50 day

By |2017-03-28T10:11:48+00:00March 29th, 2017|Brexit|

So today's the day when Mrs May formally announces the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. It seems the time is right then to make a few predictions about the way things will go over the next few weeks and months as the negotiations commence and unfold: Value of sterling (£) The markets and money men seem to react most when there are nasty surprises. Given that article 50 has been a long time coming, I doubt whether today will see much of a change in the value of the pound. Indeed, it may even strengthen against the Dollar and Euro as teenage hedge-fund algorithm writers are most likely focussed on the political uncertainty of the coming European elections in France, Germany and Italy. However, the outlook for both Germany and France is positive for the pro-European parties so I'd expect the Euro to strengthen in May and then again in October. It is only the Italian elections in 2018 that are likely to provide any volatility - and even then the populists are unlikely to win [...]

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The UK will become a tax haven

By |2017-01-19T10:01:49+00:00January 19th, 2017|Brexit|

That was the threat that May gave yesterday in her speech if the UK was forced to walk away from the negotiating table at the Brexit negotiations. Previously I postulated that UK citizens living abroad and EU citizens living in the UK would be used as May's key bargaining chip and, although that may yet come to pass, it seems she has decided that the EU will be more likely to react to a tax haven being set up on the edge of Europe. However, while the right-wing press might be applauding this manoeuvre, it is an empty threat. Why? Because it's going to happen anyway. In fact it's already happening. How many headlines have their been about the sweetheart tax deals and big multinationals not paying their fair share? The legality of it is neither here nor there for the UK government - as long as the super rich remain happy (because they fund the political parties.) Le Monde once described The City of London as Europe's biggest money laundering operation. Outside of the EU's banking regulation The [...]

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