Travel to France this Summer - new regs

Urmstongran

As our recent posts show ladies - some of us are Pollyannas.
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Others are Eeyores. Always moaning.

And some seem to spend their time dancing with unicorns in cloud cuckoo land.

Where am I telling everyone to buy another ticket Alegrias? Those were the actual thoughts that went through my mind at the time in 1974 though I'm sure no one else is interested in my giving every minute detail to explain my comment.
Linda is fine by me too, I'm rather liking all these literary personages being pinned on me!

Why on earth did you want to make something simple more difficult? It defies reason.

It's the detention of people coming to the UK that is worrying people. If the paperwork is wrong why not just put them on the next available flight home. How much is it costing to lock them up? When my son in law to be tried to get back into the UK after his visa ran out in the 1990s he was put straight on a flight to San Francisco. It was a daft thing to try, but he wasn't locked up like a criminal.

Ellianne

Where am I telling everyone to buy another ticket Alegrias? Those were the actual thoughts that went through my mind at the time in 1974 though I'm sure no one else is interested in my giving every minute detail to explain my comment.
Linda is fine by me too, I'm rather liking all these literary personages being pinned on me!

Well I'll give exact detail because it supports my claim that there are people in the world, many of them on this very thread, who have no idea how people live.

You were on a German train in 1974, got thrown off; went and bought another ticket because you had the funds. You are using this as an example of how people shouldn't complain about issues that happen to them abroad. I just bought another ticket.

Some people in 1974 may have been travelling abroad for the first time; they may have been budgeting to the last penny. Getting thrown off a train could have been the last straw, maybe they didn't have money to "just buy another ticket".

By saying that, you demonstrate a complete lack of empathy for anybody who may have been caught in a situation not of their own making.

Rant over.

Urmstongran

And yet the UK is as welcoming as ever. Our doors are wide open whether it’s for tourists or for families visiting relatives. Strange (but good) that we don’t impose reciprocal restrictions and tariffs with the EU. And pettifogging bureaucracy.
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Not quite. Tell that to the EU citizens held at detention centres in the past few days

Alegrias1

^Alegrias why does that wrankle you? Shall I not say what happened in future?^

You could try to understand that not everybody is in a position to say that they can just "buy another ticket". That being thrown off a train isn't just "tedious". For those that are watching - Linda on "Pursuit of Love"

Some Gnet posters live on a completely different planet from the rest of us. That's the one where everyone is fluent in the language of every country they are in, where they carry enough money for unexpected train journeys, where they're perfectly happy to be arrested, interrogated and held in detention, with all of their belongings confiscated, where they never suffer from any chronic condition needing regular medication, and, I suspect, contains nothing but sunny uplands and Britain, having broken free of the evil EU Empire, now rules the entire world, especially France, Macron is required to grovel daily at the feet of King of the World, Boris Johnson.

The rest of us, in the real world are still asking: "*WHAT HAVE WE GAINED FROM LEAVING THE EU*?

And I don't think that 'rankle' has a 'w' in it...

Apologies for repeating what others have already said, maybe repetition will get the message across? My son and DiL are planning on visiting her family in France this summer when covid restrictions are lifted, there is going to be a lot more fuss and paperwork than there has been before, and expense too. But, I suppose some think it is worth while, for reasons which are completely unfathomable to me.

Exactly GillT57. There are real people who want to see their families at the heart of this.
A bit of common humanity wouldn't go amiss.

I'll repeat what I said on the other thread - it's because the UK is now a third country. You are being treated the same way as everybody else from outside the EU.

I've been trying to remember what holidaying in Europe used to be like before freedom of movement. You had to leave one passport at least with the concierge at the hotel where you were staying, or the campsite office and also complete forms with your name and address etc. I also remember buying petrol coupons for Italy and the small amount of wine and spirits that could be taken back to the UK.

I've copied the following on the new import restrictions from "The Local" and English language newspaper in France.

^ Under the new rules, the following personal allowances have been laid out by the UK government.

As under the old system, these apply only to people bringing in goods for their personal use – anyone who intends to sell on their haul comes under the rule for businesses.

After January 1st 2021 you will be allowed to bring into the UK from the EU;

42 litres of beer
18 litres (24 standard bottles) of still wine
4 litres of spirits OR 9 litres (12 bottles) of sparkling wine, fortified wine or any alcoholic beverage less than 22% ABV

There will also be limits on the amount of tobacco you can bring into the UK

200 cigarettes OR
100 cigarillos OR
50 cigars OR
250g tobacco OR
200 sticks of tobacco for heating
or any proportional combination of the above

And it's not just booze and tobacco that will be subject to limits, there will also be a monetary limit on all other goods bought abroad being imported into the UK, so if you intend to hit the designer boutiques of Paris you should limit your purchases.

The value limit is £390 (roughly €430) on goods other than alcohol and tobacco – although it's not totally clear how that will be enforced.^

In know Dinamho, but a few people haven't grasped the truth yet. This is not about the EU, France in particular, being 'difficult' this is the way it is for citizens of countries outside the EU. Nothing at all like the promises made by Johnson and Gove is it?

Before the Johnson/Brexit supporters club chip in, let me save your time; this isn't, to me at least, about how much wine or tobacco I can or cannot bring into the UK, it is about no longer having the spontaneity to go where I want, when I want ( post covid of course). I am already anxious about the reception my DiL will get when she gets back to UK when she shows her French passport. This is about ordinary people having their lives made more difficult, more uncomfortable, and it is very hard for anyone to defend, surely?

There are hundreds of small, different ways in which have been affected by the aftermath of Brexit and I am sure that there are many thousands of people, not on GN who will be affected..

One of the joys of being retired is spontaneity (even if it is just to decide to get up late) and deciding to go away for a long weekend, just like Rick Stein.

I don't remember any of this pro-EU.

So why now?

Autocorrect kept changing that, even as I posted!

Pre-EU

growstuff

Urmstongran

I honestly do think some people quite enjoy being doomsters. Especially if it’s in any way Brexit-related. Makes their day.

What a ridiculous thing to claim! But I suppose it avoids you having to face the truth.

Ridiculous and extremely rude too. The Government is appointing someone to talk up the wonderful positives of Brexit- because they can't find any. And Frost who was a remainer, and negotiated the Deal, now is blaming the EU for the negotiations and Deal he signed.

So apart for all your flag waving and blue passport, please give us a list of benefits of Brexit so far. Or even ONE, just one would do (well not blue passports).

Happy to oblige Kali2.
Here’s a few:

The UK will have more power to shape its regulatory environment and cut taxes. It already has one of the lowest rates of company tax in Europe, but the country could go further. The government could also expand the “patent box”, which reduces taxes on profit from patented inventions to foster research & development. It was constrained by EU rules on state aid.

“Europe is worried the UK will set up near-shore competition to the continent,” said Mark Price, former deputy chair of retailer John Lewis Partnership and a former trade minister. The right tax regime would make the UK a lot more attractive as a base to export into the EU, he said.

In emerging industries, such as genetically modified foods and genome technology, Britain can take a more permissive approach than the EU, according to Julian Jessop, former chief economist and now a fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He noted data protection and regulation of the internet as other areas where the UK would be able to diverge.

In aviation, Britain would have the ability to cut air passenger duty on the return leg of domestic flights, which is at present prevented by a European Commission ruling. Reducing the levy has long been a demand of airlines, which say it would mean cheaper flights.

And a couple more for good luck!

Insurers may soon fall outside European rules known as Solvency II if a government review started earlier in October is implemented. Companies such as Aviva and Legal & General would benefit from potential changes permitting them to invest in a broader range of assets while allowing them to take more risk, according to Steven Findlay, head of prudential regulation for the Association of British Insurers.

Brexit could also boost the market for initial public offerings by removing the €8m EU ceiling on the amount companies can raise from individual investors without having to issue a prospectus, said Andrew Chapman, head of investment banking at Peel Hunt. “The UK government could look to raise that threshold so that we have a much more liquid and free-moving market,” he said.

Outside the EU’s customs union, the UK can sign its own trade agreements. Its biggest deal to date is an accord with Japan. While Britain already benefited from a pact with Japan through EU membership, it says the new agreement is superior in areas such as financial services and data.

Fintech firms such as TransferWise and Revolut will no longer be restricted by data localisation rules, meaning they could expand operations into Japan without needing to build servers in the country. The trade pact will help TransferWise “support Japanese customers with cheaper, faster and more convenient services”, said Venkatesh Saha, the company’s head of expansion for Asia-Pacific.

As I can see both sides of an argument, I would have said less bureaucracy.

But that is proving otherwise!

So, Urmstongran, will you soon have to fill in forms saying you will be staying with yourselves when you go?

And the popular & financial wizard retailer NEXT has always been positive about Brexit ...

“There are so many products where we currently pay import duties to protect industries in other parts of Europe,” said Simon Wolfson, CEO of retailer Next. “There is very little point having tariffs on these.”

Where did you copy and paste that from Urmstongran?

Probably Calli as bureaucrats know no bounds when it comes to devising red tape!

Oh great GM foods and more permissive approach i.e.lower standards. All this may / could stuff about lowering taxes ( not going to happen folks) is just papering over the Brexit sink hole of disappearing companies, finance and the crippling of fishing and agriculture. Not to mention NI......

www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/europe/2020-10-29-yes-there-are-some-benefits-to-brexit/

October 2020.