The vote held on June 23rd in the UK is on my mind tonight and overshadows everything else. This title sums up what the EU is going through. After 40 years of being in a relationship, even a bad one, splitting is always very painful and destructive. It takes a long time to establish a new balance

So even if the latest news does not make it easy, I would like to wish all of you a great summer and a very nice vacation.

BREXIT
Normally I never react right away to current events, but this is way too big not to make an initial analysis. Most comments are extremely negative and I share the view that it is going to be a lot worse for quite a while before it gets any better. Now I also believe that it could be a blessing in disguise. The EU must move forward after decades of staying the same in terms of creating a federal country. The UK was the main resistance to this. There could be a chance once the turmoil is over to bring back the EU vision of the1970s. I remind my readers that the UK joined the EU in 1974!

The reason Brexit is so painful to me is that the British people voted without understanding what they were voting for. They did not realize how false the anti-Europe slogans were during the campaign and how strong and solid the ties were within the EU, including the UK. They have now lost so much, certainly a lot more than they will ever gain. The rest of the EU, and especially what I consider today’s beating heart of the union – Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal – will never depart.

A little background might be useful here. From Wikipedia: “The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was an international organisation serving to unify certain Continental European countries after World War II. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The ECSC was the first international organisation to be based on the principles of supranationalism, and would ultimately lead the way to the founding of the European Union.” I cannot imagine what it would be like to erase 60 years of living together.

FRENCH ESTATES AND SPLIT OF OWNERSHIP
In the USA, setting up a trust is quite common when one wants to settle his or her own estate while still alive. The key to the success of this process is, I believe, the fact that the rules and the beneficiaries are clearly defined. There is great peace of mind in knowing that everything is well organized.

French law does not have the same legal tool, and tradition favors two completely different legal mechanisms: indivision and démembrement de la propriété.

Under French law all the children must get the same amount of net assets. When it is difficult to sort this out, the assets are either sold and the money is split (démembrement), or each one becomes owner of his/her portion (démembrement – indivision). I believe the weakest point of the latter set-up is that if one wants to leave, he/she has priority over the others, as expressed by the legal concept nul n’est tenu à l’indivision,meaning that no one can be forced to stay in the joint ownership. Since there are no defining rules for the daily management of this arrangement – and no trustee – it often happens that as time goes by the heirs reach a point of disagreement and if the others cannot buy out the dissenter, the property is sold.

The another way of addressing split of ownership of an estate is the démembrement. The Latin-derived word used is usufruct in English, usufruit in French (from usus, the right to use, and fructus, the right enjoy the “fruit” or benefit of the property, e.g. by collecting rent). The split is between a person who holds the title but has no other rights, a concept called bare ownership or nu-propriété, and another person who has full use of the property, which means either living in it or renting it out.

Unlike the previous situation, it is impossible to get out of this situation unless both parties agree to sell their respective rights together. That is, the bare ownership, i.e. the title, can be sold but it stays just as “bare” of other rights for the buyer. But the usufruct is attached to one designated person and cannot be passed on to anyone else.

Problems often occur when upkeep, renovation or repairs need to be done. The law states that daily upkeep and small repairs go with the usufruct, and structural repairs and renovation go with the “bare ownership”. One can immediately see that there might be some disagreement between these two people regarding the definitions of small repairs and structural repairs.

Recently the Cour de Cassation ruled on this issue, stating that, for example, changing the front door, the gutter, the WC, or the shutters is linked to the usufruct. To avoid lawsuits, the parties are now advised to draw up a contract that is very similar to a lease defining the rights and obligations of both parties, thus avoiding interpretation of the law specific to the matter.

About a year ago, the law changed and foreigners living in France now can choose the law of their country of citizenship to govern their estate. What I have described above may be a good reason to choose a legal regime other than that of France. It might also be advisable to speak to a notaire about the matter.

http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/argent/article/2016/05/07/comment-se-partagent-les-frais-d-un-bien-immobilier-en-indivision_4915320_1657007.html

NEW REGULATIONS REGARDING MANDATORY SCHOOLING IN FRANCE
As in most Western countries, there is an obligation to school children in France between ages 6 and 16. The parents are responsible for making sure the schooling occurs, but the choice of how it happens is up to them. There are in effect four types of schooling in France:

• Public school
• Private school with a contract with the state
• Private school without a contract
• Homeschooling
• Public school, as its name implies, is run by the government; the teachers and everyone else working there are civil servants. They must do exactly what the Ministry of Education rules.

Some private schools have signed a contract with the state, and therefore are more or less government-monitored. Their teachers are paid by the state and they must have education and diplomas meeting government standards. Their teaching is monitored by the state regarding the topics for each grade. The main difference is generally that religious instruction is included on top of the school curriculum, and there may be a slightly different orientation in the teaching methods, some philosophical or religious views, and so on.

Until very recently, private schools without a contract, had no interaction with the French administration. For a long time such schools had only to send a note informing the government of their establishment and that was that. Neither the teachers nor the curriculum were verified. Now, however, new regulations have changed this: the school must obtain government approval, which means presenting the teachers, the staff, the curriculum for each grade, and so on. Time will tell how much control is exercised and how rigid the requirements will be.

Homeschooling was unheard of in France until recently. I am sure it always existed but on a minimal level, and there were objective reasons for that: the authorities did not see it as a threat. Also, when it did happen, it was done through the Centre National d’Education à Distance, a division of the Ministry of Education.

On June 9th, however, the Ministry of Education, in addition to cracking down on non-contract private schools, warned that homeschooling might be limited as well. Its reasoning is that a growing segment of the population has radical views that are incompatible with the French way of life, and that children educated at home are in danger of being taught dangerous views. Many people might immediately think of radical Muslims and terrorism, but while it is true that this danger exists, today all three monotheistic religions have among them radical groups that refuse to accept the authority of the state, preferring allegiance to their religious beliefs.

My concern is that a wide range of alternative schooling methods be preserved. Some, like Montessori, are not recognized by the French authorities, which I find odd; thus, they cannot sign a contract with the government. This type of school should easily be approved. I worry that the government is taking too narrow a view of the situation and treating proven methods of education the same as schooling by religious extremists and cults only because they differ from the traditional approach. Still, the statistics make it clear that the number of parents choosing the “Montessori type” of schooling is growing, so this issue should be addressed and these schools should be fully recognized.

A BIG STEP FOR MY PRACTICE
The family-owned SARL A Survival Kit For Paris now officially exists and has a bank account. It is premature to switch my complete accounting over to this account as long as I stay in the current office at 7 rue Ganneron. Therefore I do not yet accept payment in that name, but for me it means everything is ready to transition to the new set-up.

INCREASE OF MY FEES ON OCTOBER 1st 2016
It has been about six years since my fees last increased. On October 1st, I will raise my initial retainer from 250€ to 270€ and the hourly rate from 100€ to 110€.

MY OFFICE WILL NOT CLOSE DURING THE SUMMER VACATION
Since my office situation has not been resolved and I do not anticipate being able to move before August or early September, I am not planning any vacation time and do not expect to go away for any length of time this summer. Depending on the outcome of my office search and how quickly it proceeds, this could change some – but not much, considering the fact that any changes would be last minute.

Best regards,

QUESTION

FRENCH SHORT-TERM RENTAL AND PRIMARY RESIDENCE

We moved to Paris a few months ago from the USA on a visitor visa. While staying in a short-term rental, we tried to rent long term in Paris and it ended up being a complete mission impossible. Even when we offered to set aside six months or even a year’s worth of rent, we were only offered leases that stated that this would be our secondary residence. So we gave up and agreed to sign the one that seemed to be best protecting our interests. We might be buying an apartment in a few years or even sooner so we are determined to stay in France, but can we be thrown out of our current apartment in a year or less?

QUESTION

REGISTERING A SMALL BUSINESS IN FRANCE SINCE URSSAF CHANGED REGULATIONS ON MICRO STATUS

I obtained a professional immigration visa at the French consulate in Atlanta, as I work in the advertising industry mainly for fashion companies. After a few trips to Paris, I made enough contacts to try relocating in France. After I arrived I found out that I cannot get the professional status I want. I know that my business is going to grow slowly and it might take several years before I exceed the 32,000€ billing limit of the micro BNC income tax status. But I found out by going to URSSAF that the only way I now can get this fiscal status is by signing up for auto-entrepreneur fiscal status. Then I called the prefecture and found out that my visa does not allow me to choose that status and I must stay with the traditional BNC, which means paying TVA, keeping books and therefore hiring a French CPA to do the year-end declarations and so on. I feel like I have been cheated by the system. Can this be fixed or am I really to be penalized and have to accept this full-grown business status, which is costly and cumbersome?

No Protection (1987) is the second album by Starship, the band that came after Jefferson Starship and Jefferson Airplane, all three of which were led by the singer Grace Slick. Many of the issues I address this month deal with maintaining, providing or diminishing protection for people. One twist, especially in France, is that once the law favors one party, the other is exposed to greater risk. France has insisted for centuries that the law must be fair, which means providing for “unequal treatment”. The logic here is that the underdog must be protected and helped. The recently proposed labor law (loi travail) submitted by Labor Minister Ms. Myriam El Khomri would take away a lot of what is seen as protection for employees; as a result, a lot of demonstrations and strikes have been happening all over France. Nearly everybody agrees that the old way of addressing the situations where there is built-in inequality must be changed, but there is a lot of disagreement as to how it should be changed..

Even French divorce law, which seemed to be widely accepted, is now being criticized in the media, mainly for reasons I will explain below. Interestingly, and in a purely French way, changes that occurred decades ago in other Western countries could now definitively take place in France. This is being done by a liberal government led by Mr. François Hollande, a member of the Socialist Party. If one can see past the current demonstrations, violence and name calling, this is a very interesting time for France.

By the way, the weeks of “Nuit Debout” sit-in demonstrations at the Place de la République also show a desire to change, but in quite the opposite way.

Whether to maintain protection or reduce it, as well as whom to protect, is a very hot topic right now.

BREAKTHROUGH REGARDING DIVORCE IN FRANCE
Divorce has been possible without proving fault since the passage on July 11th 1975 of a law mostly drafted by the legal scholar Jean Carbonnier, which made the judge the cornerstone of the proceedings so as to ensure the fairness of the divorce.

There are four types of divorce proceedings, whose interpretations have changed over the years but which have pretty much kept the same name and logic.

• 1. Le consentement mutuel is a mutually agreed upon divorce, in which the couple is in agreement on all issues needed to divorce.
• 2. La demande acceptée, now called le divorce pour acceptation du principe de la rupture du mariage, means the couple agrees on at least one thing, the fondamental decision to divorce.
• 3. La rupture de la vie commune, now called le divorce pour altération définitive du lien conjugal,indicates that the couple no longer live together and have not for a number of years (formerly seven, now two years).
• 4. Le divorce pour faute used to entail any breach of the legal obligations within a marriage but now the grounds are limited to violence and various forms of coercion resulting in one spouse being truly scared of the other.

In all of these proceedings, the judge is seen as the person making sure each spouse fairly shares both rights and responsibilities. In consentement mutuel (mutual agreement) proceedings, the judge’s role is to make sure that the agreement is fair and that neither spouse has been threatened to obtain the desired result.

On May 4th, however, the Chambre des Députés, the French equivalent of the House of Representatives, approved a provision in a judicial reform bill that would give notaires the responsibility of reviewing and recording mutually agreed divorces, instead of having the judge hear and rule on the case. This means the deputies believe the chances of coercion of a spouse are no longer of much concern. On this topic, I could write a lot about recent immigrants to France who are not yet integrated into French culture, so I disagree with the assumption that the risk is negligible and believe it should still be taken into consideration.

From what I understand of the vote, notaires, acting as neutral professionals, will determine if the split of assets and debts is fair, as well as the sharing of responsibilities regarding alimony, child support, visitation rights and so on. If they see any discrepancies, however, they cannot rule, since their involvement is purely to register divorces. We will see how often such proceedings work with only a notaire, and how often a judge will have to get involved and rule on certain issues. Also, a minor child can ask to be heard by a judge in mutual-agreement proceedings.

The couple can always go to a judge if they realize they were not in as complete agreement as needed and they cannot reconcile their views.

The reasons given by the government for the change are to make divorce cheaper (50€ is the recommended cost of the registration) and to clear crowded family court dockets of this type of proceeding. In much of France, mutual-agreement divorces constitute a majority of divorce decisions; they account for over 60% of Parisian divorces, for example. Clearly it would benefit the court system to be able to restrict its business to family cases that really need a judge’s attention.

The lower cost may be illusory, as notaire proceedings will require each spouse to have a lawyer; before, a couple who managed to agree on everything could get a divorce with just one lawyer.

One small detail that could complicate matters, even though it looks like the people will be saving a lot of money, is that notaires have their own jargon and way of thinking, which lawyers readily understand but which can be very puzzling for French laypeople, and even more so for foreigners. In family courts especially, the judges are often women. Generally the judge met with both spouses, together and then individually, making sure they agreed with the contents of the document drafted by the lawyer. These three meetings are mainly intended to make sure the wife is not being coerced into the divorce and is not renouncing her rights. Today it is possible that men could be coerced through blackmail into an unfair agreement. In most people’s experience, judges use plain language and couples rarely complain of trouble understanding what the judge says. The way notaires work in France is evolving towards more client service, including being better understood. But it remains to be seen if they will do as well as judges with this task. It is far from certain, since thus far in the legislative process, the three meetings have not been mentioned.

I just hope the use of the new proceedings will be for the best and notaires will be strong enough to refuse to register an agreement where the wife or husband gives up their rights to everything and states that they are fully OK with it. I also hope they will be wise enough to understand that some people may need clarification concerning the process, the consequences and the implications for both parties.

http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2016/05/05/le-divorce-par-consentement-mutuel-sans-juge-vote-par-les-deputes-en-commission_4914097_1653578.htmlhttp://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2015/07/11/01016-20150711ARTFIG00128-en-quarante-ans-le-divorce-par-consentement-mutuel-n-a-pas-conquis-toute-la-france.php

MOST WIVES IN FRANCE NOW HAVE A HIGHER EDUCATION THAN THEIR SPOUSES
Until the 1960s, men in France tended to marry women of low education; it was assumed in those days that higher education and being a good wife at home were not compatible. This belief was common among men born before WWII.

France continues to be a patriarchal society, therefore it is still harder for women to get a job than men; in addition, they continue to be paid less, by 19% on average. Studying longer is seen as a way to offset these two obstacles, and consequently today in a majority of couples in France, the woman has a university diploma. Meanwhile, uneducated men have the hardest time getting married or finding a long-term partner.

As this trend of women having university degrees continues, it will be more and more common for the wife to make more money than the husband. It does not need to be prevalent to modify the balance in society. I find this evolution very interesting.

http://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2016/04/14/les-femmes-sont-desormais-plus-diplomees-que-leur-conjoint_4902195_4401467.html#8TDtr9d51J4ftSRj.99

THE PNR DATABASE AND POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES FOR TRAVEL IN THE EU AND THE SCHENGEN AREA
For over a decade the USA has kept a database of everybody traveling into and out of the country, with particular attention to foreigners entering the country legally without a visa. The US police have the ability to learn right away if a foreigner has stayed in the USA more than the 90 days authorized by the visa waiver program.

In Europe, there is no such database, though many governments have asked for it. For several reasons, the European Parliament was slow in approving its creation. In addition, some governments did not feel comfortable sharing information between their intelligence services so that terrorists could be tracked down.

Therefore, the recent creation of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) was approved only by a very small margin, 32 to 27. Right now everybody says they want the data to track terrorists and people involved in other serious crimes, and I believe that is true. I do not see any hidden agenda here.

On the other hand, once the database is created, it can be used for many other things. One that would be easy to set up is identifying and fining people who overstay the 90 days allowed by the visa waiver program. Several countries in the Schengen area already severely fine foreigners identified as having overstayed. Today these people are only caught when they get to a border and their passports are checked. Once the PNR is fully functioning, if all European police forces have full access to it, each member country can add software that matches people overstaying their visas with people traveling. The police could know in advance who is traveling in this situation, and handle them right off the plane if need be.

I have no idea if the French police would ever be interested in apprehending North Americans who have overstayed their visas. Right now nothing indicates that they are. But it would not take much for other Schengen area police forces to catch people. The absence of border controls does not mean there are no controls; on the contrary, there are many. My experience is that until recently they were mostly done near the Spanish and Italian borders, where a lot of undocumented aliens enter France, and at the Belgian border where drug smugglers come from the Netherlands. It is perfectly legal for Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands to fine people who overstay at the Schengen level; as long as it does not involve a border control, it would be in full compliance with the Schengen agreement— for example, picking up a person getting off a plane.

People who are in this situation should not panic. The PNR has just been voted in and for many reasons it will be a long time before it is fully operational. Still, we now know it will exist and it will be used. The rest is speculation. My personal opinion comes from what is going today and what could happen when countries have full access to the information. Now may be the time to reconsider this lifestyle.

UBER IN FRANCE AND URSSAF’S REQUALIFICATION ATTEMPT
The French administration has won in court regarding one aspect of Uber’s activities. But now the administration has found a more definitive way to get rid of Uber in France.

The key to Uber’s system is that its drivers are self-employed and run their business the way they want. In several US states, this arrangement is being challenged on the grounds that the drivers should be considered employees. Now URSSAF is doing the same thing in France. The key difference is that in France the financial consequences are much worse. Social charges are calculated differently between the self-employed status and the employee status.

Two things are happening and are independent one from the other. The first most important one is that the employer is said to owe the employee’s and employer’s social charges calculated on the money the driver has received. This means that the entire amount of the social charges is owed by the employer. The second consequence is that the drivers are reimbursed the amount of social charges they have paid as self-employed.

This amounts to a huge amount of money, to which URSSAF adds fines and penalties with interests for late payment going back as much as three years. If URSSAF wins its case, Uber might have to file for bankruptcy to handle such a debt. One nasty twist is that even if Uber takes the matter to court and obtains a favorable decision, it still owes the money the entire time. This means URSSAF can use all the collection methods at its disposal, including freezing bank accounts, blocking money that Uber’s creditors owe, and so on, so it can dry up Uber’s cash fast.

The legal ground for this action is that, under French law, if an individual is a subordinate of a company, he is an employee no matter what his legal status is. URSSAF is trying to prove that this lien de subordination exists between Uber and its drivers.

I do not wish to comment on the quality of the service Uber offers, or on the fact that many black and Arab drivers, those who have the hardest time getting decent jobs, have found working with Uber to be a good opportunity. As far as the big picture goes, whether this attack on Uber is a good or a bad thing for France is a very complex question. One thing I am sure is that there will be intense lobbying by employers to stop or reduce this attack, as it is clear that French business owners are part of the trend to make their workers self-employed as much as possible.

It has reached the point where people speak in French about the uberisation de la société, which describes the disappearance of social protection for French employees, as well as for tenants and so on. That gives an idea how important this action is for France, as it will set the trend for the rest of French society.

An article in Le Monde also illustrates very well the evolution towards less protection for the employees.

http://www.lemonde.fr/economie-francaise/article/2016/05/17/l-urssaf-poursuit-uber-pour-requalifier-ses-chauffeurs-en-salaries_4920825_1656968.html#Z8ThiT8Otb0xpmj4.99

INCREASE OF MY FEES ON OCTOBER 1st 2016
It has been about six years since my fees last increased. On October 1st, I will raise my initial retainer from 250€ to 270€ and the hourly rate from 100€ to 110€.

MY OFFICE WILL NOT CLOSE DURING THE SUMMER VACATION
Since my office situation has not been resolved and I do not anticipate being able to move before August or early September, I am not planning any vacation time and do not expect to go away for any length of time this summer. Depending on the outcome of my office search and how quickly it proceeds, this could change some € but not much, considering the fact that any changes would be last minute. By the way, I have formed a new corporation, called “A Survival Kit For Paris.”

Best regards,

QUESTION

THE CONSEQUENCES OF AN UNWELCOME PROMOTION

After many years in France, I hold a carte de résident and I have been working for my employer for years. It is a job, and only a job … I do not want to say more. About two months ago I got a promotion and my new boss is plain awful. One could speak of harassment and degrading methods. I have worked on some projects with him and he is very abusive. Without waiting for me to sign the addendum to my contract, they gave me a new office, a new boss and more work to do with a meager increase in pay. I am reminded daily that if I do not sign the contract, I will not keep my raise. Considering the situation, I truly miss my former position; at least I could work in relative peace and get things done.
Do you think it is possible to get my job back? I never accepted the change and I have no intention of signing at this point. So what do I risk?

QUESTION

WHAT IS TAXABLE INCOME IN FRANCE?

Having lived here for many years, I have to fill out US tax forms as well as French. One thing about the French system I’ve never really understood is their “logic” about income: Brut, Net, Abbatu [sic], Imposable € each one is different. But why not just say you made this much and this is what you owe in taxes?