tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post2968788478453968060..comments2023-09-23T11:16:00.352+02:00Comments on The Franco-American Flophouse has moved: The Hollande Tax and EmigrationVictoria FERAUGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-78096036246606495902012-09-13T08:04:11.527+02:002012-09-13T08:04:11.527+02:00Hi Christophe, a very interesting article in Le Fi...Hi Christophe, a very interesting article in Le Figaro that speaks to your comment.<br /><br />http://www.lefigaro.fr/argent/2012/09/10/05010-20120910ARTFIG00638-les-francais-de-bruxelles-sont-aises-mais-pas-les-plus-riches.php<br /><br />Le Figaro says that the really rich French already went to places like Switzerland or London while those with some money go to Belgium. All these locations are close enough to France to allow for frequent visits to the family here. Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-75270460826206584002012-09-11T20:09:31.416+02:002012-09-11T20:09:31.416+02:00Hi Victoria,
Another great post. My guess is that...Hi Victoria,<br /><br />Another great post. My guess is that the French government is probably not expecting these people to leave, because what I think is one of the main big weakness of Europe, which is the lack of a common language. While you could get by with English in many European countries, especially for business, it might be more difficult for daily life.<br />This narrows down quite a bit the list of countries that these French families might want to emigrate to pretty much Belgium, Luxembourg, Great Britain and Switzerland.<br />Even British Prime Minister David Cameron told the world from Mexico in early summer that London was “rolling out the red carpet” for wealthy French seeking tax havens :-)<br />But with Hollande also wanting to redefine tax treaties with neighboring European countries to fight tax evasion, I am not sure the Exit tax would be worth it, especially if France enacts something like FATCA with its neighbors. The US gave these countries some pretty bad ideas...<br /><br />An anecdotal point on how language and culture is a barrier to migration in Europe. My company has a plant in Hungary and we're having problems hiring people there. The plant is about 3 hours from Budapest where the main universities are. And apparently, Hungarians don't really want to move that far from their families and friends.<br />And it's hard to hire foreigners, even with the high unemployment in Spain and Greece. As I mentioned above, if you don't speak Hungarian, it's pretty hard outside of work. Who would want to move a family there? Great Britain has a big advantage in this sense, compared to the other European countries. Although I've read that lots of Spanish students start to learn German and are willing to move there.<br /><br />Take Care,<br /><br />ChristopheChristophenoreply@blogger.com