No taxation without representation

That’s a political philosophy that few can disagree with (although its opposite does not and should hold true).  Yet the right of EU citizens to work, reside and travel in other EU states has resulted in a huge anomaly, where there is a very large gap between the EU’s  guarantee of social and economic rights and individual Member States’ vastly different interpretations of citizens’ (and non-citizen’s) political rights.

According to Eurostat there are some 16 million EU citizens living in EU countries other than the one of which they are a citizen.  16 million!  That’s around 3% of the population of the EU, the equivalent (roughly) of the population of the Netherlands, or more than the population of the EU’s   eight lest populous countries put together.   Let’s assume, at a conservative estimate, that 75% of these people are economically active  paying taxes in their country of residence. 

Yet to my knowledge there is not one single EU country that allows tax-paying, non-citizens, no matter how long established, to vote in its national elections.  This is a scandal.  It means that something like one in forty of the EU population is disenfranchised. 

The level of disenfranchisement may vary.  In many EU countries non-citizens are able to vote in EU, local and sometimes regional elections.  Citizens of some countries permanently retain their right to vote in their home countries.  (The French recognise that their ex-pat communities have specific interests and needs and so deserve dedicated seats in the Senate).  In others such as the UK this right is granted for a limited and somewhat arbitrary period of time (the controversial 15 year rule, which the last two Tory manifestoes have promised to abolish,  a promise that has not (yet) been delivered upon and could have made a decisive difference in  the 2016 referendum).  Germans, I understand, lose their voting rights as soon as they become ‘non-dom’.    I don’t know about the other 25 member states.

The EU seeks to harmonize economic and social rights, yet I believe this needs to be balanced by harmonising political rights, so that every EU citizen has the right to vote in all elections in one country or another.   My preference would be that people have voting rights in the country where they pay taxes (after say a certain qualifying period). ( Again this would have had a profound effect on the 2106 UK referendum).  But failing that they should retain their voting rights in their home countries.

The current situation represents a fundamental breach of human rights.  Yet no-one is talking about it.  And I think it is time we opened the discussion. 

market day

Wednesday is market day in Hendaye. As the weather becomes more clement and the days longer the market is starting to flesh out with the stalls that I last saw here last summer. A large portion of the traders here are producers and I now know which ones to go to for cheese, pate, sheeps' and cows' milk, yoghurt and Breuille, the skimmed whey from cheese making. The first locally grown strawberries (from a tunnel) are on sale.

Several of the traders already know my preferences and suggest supplements or alternatives. One of them a farm just inland won a silver medal for its ham at the Paris Agricultural/food show in February. Another remarked that I was wearing a linen jacket: ' Today, yes but I haven't put my winter coats in the cupboard yet' was my reply.

Yesterday I lost a cheque made out to me and was going frantic with worry. This morning the owner of the local Presse called me to tell me I had dropped something in her shop and call by and collect it any time. I did (with huge relief) and then stopped by my bank to open a business account. I am now 75% of the way to becoming a registered 'auto-entrepreneur' - a micro-business. I've spent three weeks putting together dossiers (fichiers in French) and am very pleased to see them go through with only small hiccups.

In the meantime my seeds are sprouting (apart from the spinach which has keeled over in the heat this afternoon). My wallflowers, which stayed in flower all winter, are now up to neck height: I've never seen wallflowers grow so tall.  My geranium, inherited from the last owner of my flat, which I put under severe stress last year, has started to flower. Honeysuckle and sweet peas are finding the strings designed to encourage their growth up towards the guttering and the tiles.  Oh and a neighbour has a bag full of locally caught mackerel for me to collect this evening.

The tragic reality of Brexit lingers but I am learning to focus on the positive things in life. The gullibility of the UK electorate (expressed in May 2105 as well as June 2016) and the intransigence of both sides of the House of Commons (well there's only one side now - the only real opposition is the SNP) would otherwise have destroyed me. It almost did. It's been a long struggle since I am so emotionally, politically, psychologically and financially connected with the EU. Somehow I have this idea (perhaps naive) that whatever shit hits the disunited kingdom financially and diplomatically will trash the Tory party and the 'two party' state beyond repair.