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EUROPEAN UNION

The EU is ‘fuelling’ the far-right: French minister

An outspoken French minister rounded on the EU over the weekend, accusing it of adding fuel to France's far-right National Front, by ignoring the wishes of the people of Europe, and pressuring European governments.

Published: 24 June 2013 08:49 CEST
Updated: 24 June 2013 10:00 CEST
The EU is 'fuelling' the far-right: French minister
Has the EU given French far right movements a boost. Here members of the "Renouveau Francais" nationalist group take part in a demonstration in Paris on May 12, 2013. Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

The minister for industrial renewal, Arnaud Montebourg, laid into European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso over his recent description of France's stance on a proposed EU-US free trade zone as "reactionary."

"Mr Barroso is the fuel of the Front National," Montebourg told France Inter radio on Sunday. "He is the fuel of (Italian protest party leader) Beppe Grillo."

Barroso has been in the firing line of French politicians of all shades since making dismissive remarks about France's insistence on excluding the film and television sectors from international trade liberalization under a policy known as the "cultural exception."

But Montebourg made the issue much broader by suggesting Barroso's comments were symptomatic of a deeper problem with the way power is wielded by the European Union's executive arm in Brussels.

"I think the main cause of the rise of the Front National is related to the way in which the EU today exerts considerable pressure on democratically elected governments," Montebourg said.

"You have the president of the European Commission who says 'all those who are anti-globalisation, they're reactionaries'. These are the same people who have today turned the European Union into an institution that is anti the people of Europe.

"In the end, the EU does not act, it is immobile, paralysed. It does not respond to any popular aspiration, on the industrial front, on the economic front or on the budgetary front.

"And in the end, that furthers the cause of all the pro-sovereignty, anti-European, parties in the EU."

Far-right beaten in by-election

Montebourg's critical comments came as the far-right National Front came second in a by-election for the seat vacated by disgraced former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, in the south-western department of Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

The party's candidate, Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, achieved 46 percent of the vote in Sunday's run-off against eventual winner, Jean-Louis Costes from the centre-right UMP party, after eliminating the Socialist candidate in last week's first round election.

Former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, one of the UMP's leaders, said the victory for his party's candidate would be welcomed by "all republicans".

But Fillon also acknowledged the recent advances made by the FN on the back of the Cahuzac scandal and France's economic problems were of concern for all mainstream parties.

"The elevated score of the Front National is a reflection of the despair felt by many French who have been let down by the false promises of the president of the republic," Fillon said. "It is also a warning for the opposition."

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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