For all the well meaning British escapees thinking of moving to France below are some expat observations that are a result of 10 years running a business & family in Normandy.

France differs more from the U.K. than you think. The similarities are superficial and the differences are astonishing.

The state uses its administration to control the public. A couple of years after settling in (and becoming a tax resident) you may be investigated regarding your worldwide assets without having the right to either representation or defense from a lawyer. The law in France states that you are guilty until you prove your innocence. Enforced distribution of private wealth for the benefit of the state is why those in the population who do not work for the state tend to hide anything they have earned. Do not under any circumstances become a French tax resident.

The moment it has been decided that you have, retrospectively for the last decade, spent more than 183 days resident in any one year (or have your principal home/wealth in France) your home, finances and activities will be descended upon by several state departments demanding an array of payments/justifications for unspecific obligations (and often fines for your negligence in not registering the day of arrival) in a desperate attempt to keep the administration classes well cared for.

France is going bust. Due to deeply suspect administrative spending plus the short sight contempt of its entrepreneurs, the economy is in a spiraling deficit. The state costs more to run than the current annual GDP. Economists estimate collapse within 5 years.

The Gendarmerie are not police but are a wing of the military and not a civil organisation. They have unlimited power and answer only to the state. They can enter your property at any time demanding papers & proof of your existence and have the right to seize possessions or people without warrant or reason. Ironically when you call them because there is a drunk man in your garden with a shotgun they will tell you that they may pass in the morning to ‘pick up the pieces’. Quote!

Notaries and agents do not work for you. You are paying yet this does not oblige them to tell the truth, advise you of horrendous legal and property law traps, or protect your interests in any way. The polite smiles can be disarming. The Notaire is really a tax collector and works for the state, not the buyer or seller, so the bigger legal mess you end up in will be more work for him/her in the future along with money for the state in fines and fees. Agents also have no legal obligations to tell you the truth about anything. Their motivation is purely to get you to contract.

 French have disliked the British for millennia. They can be a jealous, petty and unhappy lot. They have a surprising contempt for each other also. As a foreigner you risk being exploited often and overcharged everywhere because you ‘can afford it’. This is known as ‘le prix Anglais’. The French are past masters at insincere cooperation and their beaurocratic complexity and insincerity disturbingly reflects the cultural identity of its people.

‘Champagne’, ‘Versailles’, ‘Chanel’ and ‘Grand cru classé’ are misleading representations of the modern French culture. Post revolution France views beauty, luxury and style as capitalist luxuries from their oppressed past and really only for export. Much of France can be very ugly indeed.

Your British qualification/experience is not acceptable here and you will not be allowed to exploit your European right to work. After five years of submitting stamped, signed and officially translated copies of every piece of paper you have ever handled you will get the subtle message! France has huge unemployment and the state prevents foreigners from taking or even creating work. They welcome our money but not our presence. The EU has no real jurisdiction in France irrespective of the infraction. Brussels has been known to indicate that the French Ministere is meant to comply but it is early days and you must be patient etc etc……

 The French at school are blindly taught that no other country has a comparably civilized lifestyle. They truly believe that their ‘hole in the ground toilets’ are the envy of the world. One finds in fact that the food served in ‘average’ quality restaurants is expensive and of an extremely low quality.

The French administration is huge. Napoleon’s Orwellian Civil Code employs over half of the working population and still operates with a rigid, 18^th century, superior attitude. It equates to a heavy and invasive paperwork implication upon everyday life for which it was not designed. In France a citizen is not permitted a life private of the state. Typically for one independent working person, his/her partner will take between 20 and 30 hours per week dealing with their beaurocratic demands. Unfortunately this paper generating system does function with any efficiency or consistency. There is little or no communication between state departments meaning copies of everything for each concerned and dramatic variations of advice from each individual questioned. Problems, which are encountered weekly, are very lengthy and difficult to solve, if at all. Many acquaintances’ administrative problems have never been eradicated despite continuous letter writing/ meetings etc. lasting over decades. This inherent inadequacy is not taken into account by the state when it makes costly and threatening demands requiring immediate payment without the option of query or negotiation. You may consider writing to the relevant department if the irregularity was an error yet they will claim no knowledge of the dossier despite continuing red payment demands. When reminded with a new dossier of copies your demand will be typically refused.

If you sell a property as a British citizen and French tax resident it is likely that you will immediately be required to host a Controle Fiscale inspection. This is typically 3 months in length and will require all professional and private financial records/ justifications for a decade. Fierce speculation of your earnings and assets ensue and, as in France you are guilty until you prove your own innocence, all kinds of charges are suggested as standard incurring fines payable within 7 days, no questions. You are not permitted representation and any error in Notarial texts or accountancy documentation is your responsibility despite the fact that you have employed a professional.

If you are not a tax resident and sell your property the state will demand a large sum of money as security IN CASE they find you owe something later. This is held for ten years and, upon reclamations, the administration will again claim no knowledge of the arrangement.

Despite the sometimes magically pretty countryside France has a lazy, arrogant, surprisingly poor and fundamentally dishonest culture. There is/are no consumer rights, customer services, flexibility or compassion. Holiday here but you will regret any legal connection with this communist regime that has been called ‘the new Russia’ by informed French acquaintances.

The self employed are considered to be the enemy of the state & deemed responsible for contributing the ultimate price for its well being. Consider an annual small business taxation of 40% then a social security obligation of 45% of the remaining net after a few deductions.

This wipes out 90% of small businesses within three years of startup. The tax & social charges are projected at the beginning of the year and payable immediately before you have earned a centime. Entrepreneurialism is ironically a capitalist idea and therefore abhorrent to the French state though taking the starting capital and hard work of people with the drive to make their own way serves a purpose in gaining revenue in the short term. The state evidently only considers their present sinking balance sheet. French entrepreneurs try once or twice before vowing never to try again. This will soon mean that there is no one left in France to generate revenue. The end is nigh. In a Proustian sense, the majority of despairing French want to work for the state as ‘fonctionnaires’ and not be independents for obvious reasons. When you work for the devil you get, temporarily anyway, comfort while you are doing his bidding. All French people are aware of this.

The aloof administration is your first & last point of contact for all things. It regulates everything and everyone to an incredibly invasive extent. Elusive and abstract permits/paper justifications are required for even tiny details of everyday life. You will be facelessly and namelessly told to make a rendez vous with someone, usually in 5 months time 100 km away, or write letter, after letter after letter, never getting to someone who has a clue or the will to assist. ‘Non’ seems to be the only word of advice on offer.

Years of planning & research into a dossier will be dealt with contempt and discard.

Statistically over 50% of hard working and well meaning Europeans who move to France return to their home countries in despair & broke within two years. The figure is 80% after 5 years. After 10 years it becomes over 90%. These include Dutch, Belgian, German, English etc. Same stats every time. 30 000 people move to France each year yet 100 000 leave.

France claims to be socialist. One thinks of labour and democrat equivalents. It is in fact a communist state that is run from the top by capitalist elite. These elite are openly immune from the law, receive large & legal cash monthly bonuses and live like all very wealthy businessmen. That is fine until one understands that if you are not related to or in the employ of this group you become a subject of a completely authoritarian system. As an example it is estimated that 25% of the prison population has not been tried but simply retained for non compliance or suspicion by the will of the state. It is important to consider that if one becomes a fiscal resident of a communist state, your wealth and assets can be taken from you at will with the most perfunctory of excuses. It is well known amongst the population that if you have the connections you can commit a crime and a phone call will make it disappear. The French are so oppressed that this is considered both acceptable and normal.

France’s press and media are censored. The people are not informed about events or information that may undermine the state’s credibility. For this reason it seems that we find an old, unhappy culture that has, after five revolutions and several wars, gathered a lot of baggage, resentment and severe administration.

It would be a serious underestimation to believe that learning the language was one’s largest concern when living in France.

Name withheld through fear of harassment from Big Brother.

A response to above:

I've just been reading the views of one of your contributors entitled "serious underestimation".

I cannot seriously believe that this guy, whoever he is, speaks of the country I now live in.

He might be describing pre-Revolution Russia, or Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

 Most of the piece is simply rant in the style of the worst of The Sun or The Daily Star with hints of The News of The World.

 But I will comment on comments that actually contain some alleged facts.

 "A couple of years after settling and becoming tax resident you may be investigated regarding your worldwide assets without having ythe right to either representation of defense from a lawyer".

He protects himself here by saying "may be". But this will only happen to you if you have a serious history of tax evasion/fraud/money laundering, possibly passed on to the French authorities by the UK. Does this ring a bell with your contributor?

 "The state costs more to run than the current GDP".

Firstly, I wonder if he knows what GDP stands for - Gross Domestic Product. Secondly, the statement is wrong. Yes, France's state expenditure deficit has breached the golden rule of the ECB (currently 3% of GDP I think) but the deficit is still only around 4 or 5% of GDP.

 " Notaires .... You are paying yet this does not oblige them to tell the truth, advise you of horrendous legal and property law traps, or protect your interests in any way."

He seems to be describing the UK system of property conveyance here. In France the Notaire is SPECIFICALLY charged with advising both parties to a transaction as to any legal obstacles, such as a droit de passage, or local obstacles, such as the propinquity of a railway line or the existence of a development plan (approved) that may affect the property.

 " Your British qualifications/experience is not acceptable here and you will not be allowed to exploit your European right to work."

I suspect that the author has fallen into the trap of so many Brits who settle in France - they can't be bothered to learn even rudimentary French. Of course you won't get employment in these circumstances - unless you can find another Brit employer.

 "If you are tax resident and sell your property the state will demand a large sum of money as security IN CASE they find you owe something later. This is held for ten years........"

I don't know where he imagined this: I've sold property twice whilst tax resident and there has been no suggestion of this. If anything, non-tax resident property owners are, or were, penalised on selling property. Over a certain value they had to retain a Financial Accountant, usually in Paris, who charged 1% of the sale price. This was in case the non-resident scarpered with the funds without paying any capital gains tax due. I understand the system has now been abolished.

 As I have said, the rest of this "comment" is pure rant and, as a serious website with the intentions of showing fair views either way, you have done your own website a disservice by publishing it.

 Opposing views yes, but not this type of crap.

 Geoff