Got an email yesterday from a Flophouse reader pointing out that the UMP Quebec 2014 twitter feed recently tweeted two Flophouse posts. That was unexpected but pleasantly so. Thank you to whoever manages that feed and I hope that those who follow it will be inspired to action. As of this morning there are 29 comments about the US renunciation fee raise on the regulation.gov website and it would be good to have many more. Please be aware that you can leave a comment anonymously. That's right, you do not have to give them your name or contact information.
As I was reading the feed I noticed a note from Frédéric Lefebvre, the Député des Français d’Amérique du Nord. If you are a French abroad in North America, he is your representive in the French national parliament. He has been an excellent advocate for his constituents who are, alas, part of the collateral damage brought about by FATCA. In June he met with two dual (French/US) citizens to talk directly with them about how this American legislation impacts them in France.
He says that there will be a parliamentary debate TODAY (September 18, 2014 and it's number 4 on the morning agenda) concerning the legislation that is needed to implement FATCA in France.
For those who are interested (and you are many) here is the projet de loi for FATCA that was introduced in July by Laurent Fabius and passed by the French Senate (via an "accelerated procedure").
And here is a report about the FATCA legislation prepared by Ms. Estelle GRELIER for the Assembly which was presented and discussed by the Commission des affaires étrangères on September 10.
Hopefully the debate will be recorded and if so I will post it here on the Flophouse.
Update: You can watch the debate en direct this morning here.
3 comments:
The French National Assembly is burying its head in the sand as they think there will be reciprocity with the US vis-à-vis its French expat citizens. This will NOT happen without approval through the US Congress. This approval will NOT happen. Also, they are unaware of the damage it is causing French citizens who are deemed "US Persons" as outlined by FATCA as well as French citizens who are married to an American. Regarding dual citizens (French and American)which privacy rights take precedent (US, EU, France)? Are they aware of the two lawsuits in process citing constitutional violations of its citizens(Canada, US)? Are they aware of the Human Rights violation submission?
You might find this interesting. It just popped up today over on Zerohedge -
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-17/appalling-practice-used-only-two-nations-which-us-one
I was not able to watch the live feed. It was in the middle of the night for me. Did you watch it?
How was it? Would you mind summarizing it if they don't publish it later?
I read the report you linked. Pierre Lellouche had some good points. Too bad they didn't listen to him.
What kind of debate was it anyway:
Look at that sentence from the presidente:
"Il se trouve que la Commission des finances a émis un avis favorable à l’adoption du texte aujourd’hui même." Move on, there is nothing to discuss. It's already been decided. We're just informing you. What BS democracy.
That pisses me off.
Not much analysis. No common sense approach. The threat of the withholding did it.
They might as well raise the American flag next to the French flag.
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