What the lack of correct political representation

is costing expat Brits in their pockets!

The Determination of International Laws.The international laws which               affect all expatriates are discussed, agreed to, and signed by the British              Government in the name of all British Citizens.  Unfortunately the Expatriate                 British Citizen is never consulted through any process of Representation.

The agreements are drawn up by Whitehall Civil Servants according to
the perceived interests of the British State .  The Minister of
State involved is unlikely to understand the effect on the expatriates.
Other politicians, unless pre-warned, are even mor unaware.  It is                             absolutely necessary that they should know what ishappening in OUR name.                        It is necessary that in each population there is someone who can transmit                               the citizens’ feelings to the senior politicians (the cabinet) and to Whitehall.                          In democratic countries there is a feedback from local councils (or from          individuals) to MPs to Government.  An individual or someone acting for a                    group [say in Bristol ] can in Britain explore this channel of communication.
THE EXPATRIATE BRITISH CITIZEN usually CANNOT do this.                           He/she has no appropriate Representation.

Britain has the closest set of treaty links with The European Union.
Essentially it is supposed to mean that a British Citizen can move freely
without loss of benefit between the States of the Union – This is enshrined in
EU Law – But in certain instances the British Government fails in its
obligations.

The British Citizen  elsewhere in the world can be even more disadvantaged.                Because of this yawning gap in political communication, the expatriate is               disadvantaged, but the disadvantage varies from country to country
(within the EU) and from continent to continent in the World. It would seem that
The Citizen abroad, is a Citizen ignored.

A.   The European Union

Many of the problems within the EU are discussed in the
blogsite  http://pensionersdebout.blogspot.com

Here I give little more than headings – it is necessary to go to the
blogsite and explore the various entries to learn more

The relevant EU laws are:-

REGULATION (EC) No 883/2004  [The Law on Social
Security Co-ordination in the EU]

REGULATION (EC) No 987/2009  [Implementation of this Basic
Law]   Both are binding documents – here and there breached by
Britain .

No expatriate – neither the young nor the old–  is entitled to live and                                   work in the EU without the backing of these  and other EU laws.  The                           expatriate needs Representation when changes are proposed.

The legal area is clouded by the Double Taxation Agreements between
every separate nation which interfere with the operation of the continent                                  wide EU laws.

There is no political interest in the UK for creating a level playing
field in Europe .  The expatriate has no easy way of influencing a
debate on any of these laws.  He needs Representation.

The numbers of expatriates who have actively spoken out in France ,                                  Italy and Spain in any political sense, could easily sit round one table.                                  We need a proper channel of political communication.

A.1 Health charges .  The EU law indicates that all British pensioners                     (holders of an S1 form) should receive cover for health costs as though                                   they lived in Britain .  In Spain they do. In France they do not – The top-up                       cost in France is between 1,000 to 3,000 euros a year for an aging couple                      increasing with age.

A.2 Extra Benefits for the disabled and elderly.  The UK
Government  is still extremely reluctantly accepting that it should
make payments of the Winter Fuel Payment (worth either £200 or
£300 per home), Attendance Allowance, and other benefits to expats                                      in Europe. Only the EU Commission has stood up for the British
expatriate.   The disabled expatriate, the aged mother who has out
of necessity gone to live with her children in France  have no
power to stand up for themselves.  They need Representation of
their cause.

A.3 Double taxation.  Problems in this area are outside of EU regulation                       and  relate to agreements between each pair of countries. Those expatriates                             who receive a government service pension from the UK in France [Military                  personnel, Police, Fireman, Teachers, – curiously Nurses are not so disadvantaged]          pay out £100’s and sometimes £1000’s  in Tax to the UK authorities more
than they would if their incomes were taxed in France .  In Spain such persons do not   have to declare such incomes at all (!)  as indeed neither does a French person in similar circumstances in Britain.

Again the British expatriate has no system of Representation to protest in any political manner at such injustice.

A.4 The Military Covenant. The current British Government has declared its respect for the ex-serviceman.  There are those who want to live in the EU beyond the UK and of course elsewhere in the world.
View: http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A41BEF29-DA63-4F63-9954-1C2693587744/0/revised_Feb08_military_covenant_factsheet.pdf
Under EU law they are entitled to move within the union and obtain any rights which
they would enjoy if otherwise they lived within the UK .

Regarding the three items above:-

• The reception of the Winter Fuel Payment would at the moment be
  doubtful when they achieve 60 years of age.

The ex-servicemen will lose out as do all others; but moreover the ‘covenant’                 would be breached.  They also need Representation!

A.4 Other Financial Problems for the expatriate..

The chief is the lack of financial freedom in the use of banks and
investments.

If you do not already possess a UK based account or it disappears because your              bank goes bust, then it is extremely unlikely that you can open an account from                    a non-UK address. This is not a legal constraint on the banks. It is their own             convention.  It surely should be illegal to so discriminate within the EU.

No-one ever takes this up politically because no-one Represents the
expatriate.

B.  BEYOND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Refer to  http://www.britishpensions.org.au/morald.htm

This reference states the legal history of the matter of Frozen Pensions.

The State Retirement Pension of expatriates in Commonwealth countries
such as Australia , Canada & New Zealand have their pensions frozen at the
level at which they existed when they moved.  It is not frozen in the USA.

It is frozen in the Faroe Islands , but not in Iceland . It is not frozen in Turkey                    but is frozen in Albania.

The situation is chaotic and absurd.

The expatriates are not adequately Represented in Parliament.

Other examples of frozen/unfrozen pensions.

In the tax haven of Liechtenstein [principality between Switzerland
and Austria ] the British State pension IS NOT frozen.

In the tax haven of Monaco [principality in the south of France ] the
British State Pension IS frozen.

*****************************
Brian and Helen Cave
le Fourquet, Gourdon,
46300, France