Travel to France this Summer - new regs

Autocorrect kept changing that, even as I posted!

Pre-EU

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

So why now?

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.

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?

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?

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.^

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.

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.

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

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*?

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.
?

Not quite. Tell that to the EU citizens held at detention centres in the past few days

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.

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.

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

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!

Urmstongran

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

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

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.

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"

Alegrias1

^Solution, just buy another ticket and hop back on the next train. Tedious, but if that's what it takes.^

That's nice, if you have the money to buy another ticket.

Privileged, much?

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

sodapop I appreciate how it must be for you.

MerylStreep oh that was unfortunate.

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

Elleanne
The worst part was: my friend who was with me ( it was him who we had taken to the police station to register) thought it was some sort of candid camera joke!!! and was laughing.
Even when the officer said in a very aggressive tone so you think this is a joke, do you he still didn’t get it.
They physically escorted him out of the station.
He had never travelled outside the eu and had no idea how different countries can operate.

Mamie

More here:
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/17/handcuffed-detained-denied-medicine-eu-citizens-uk-border-ordeals

Now freedom of movement has ended, people from across the EU can continue to visit the UK, but those coming to work or study must meet our entry requirements and we urge them to check before travelling.

It's no good to keep blaming those who voted for Brexit. Like me and others who voted to Remain, they exercised their democratic right to vote.

As another poster keeps pointing out, it was a minority of the voting public who voted to leave the EU - yes because so many voters just could not be bothered to get themselves to the polling station or even to register for a postal vote and exercise their franchise.

The complacent, the lazy, the ones who couldn't care less although a very few may not have been able to due to circumstances beyond their control - they are the ones who, if they could have given it a thought, could have altered the result. The missing 27%.

They may not have voted Remain, of course, the result may still have been the same but we will never know.

And I see we're using Bulgaria as an example of acceptable immigration policies.

World's gone mad.

Solution, just buy another ticket and hop back on the next train. Tedious, but if that's what it takes.

That's nice, if you have the money to buy another ticket.

Privileged, much?

More of a Candide myself