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Your opinions on EU open borders and freedom of movement

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Eleonora

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Hi everyone! I am currently writing a report on the topic of the EU open borders and freedom of movement. I am trying to get as many opinions as possible, especially from young people (16-30 years old), on issues such as the challenges and opportunities brought by the freedom of movement in the EU and the internal open borders. How has freedom of movement in the EU had an impact on your lives? What is your opinion on the European Union and what role do you think it has had in your lives? Have you ever benefitted from cultural, study or work exchanges within the European Union? And, if so, what impact have these exchanges had on your lives?
I am looking forward to hearing all your opinions. If you are interested in debating about this, or if you want to do a private online interview for the report I am writing, I will be happy to get in touch with you. No matter your age, nationality or political side, any opinion is welcome.
 
Eleonora said:
Hi everyone! I am currently writing a report on the topic of the EU open borders and freedom of movement. I am trying to get as many opinions as possible, especially from young people (16-30 years old), on issues such as the challenges and opportunities brought by the freedom of movement in the EU and the internal open borders. How has freedom of movement in the EU had an impact on your lives? What is your opinion on the European Union and what role do you think it has had in your lives? Have you ever benefitted from cultural, study or work exchanges within the European Union? And, if so, what impact have these exchanges had on your lives?
I am looking forward to hearing all your opinions. If you are interested in debating about this, or if you want to do a private online interview for the report I am writing, I will be happy to get in touch with you. No matter your age, nationality or political side, any opinion is welcome.
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Is the difference between the people of England and the people of say....Italy radically more significant than say the difference between the people of Texas and the people of New York in the United States?

Many U.S. states are bigger and size and farther apart than most of Europe, but for centuries free travel and free trade between them has worked just fine without major issue, and has helped the United States become a dominate economic super power. The amount of time, energy, and money each country would waste in a futile attempt to isolate themselves from their neighbors would cause significantly more harm than good.
 
Eleonora said:
Hi everyone! I am currently writing a report on the topic of the EU open borders and freedom of movement. I am trying to get as many opinions as possible, especially from young people (16-30 years old), on issues such as the challenges and opportunities brought by the freedom of movement in the EU and the internal open borders. How has freedom of movement in the EU had an impact on your lives? What is your opinion on the European Union and what role do you think it has had in your lives? Have you ever benefitted from cultural, study or work exchanges within the European Union? And, if so, what impact have these exchanges had on your lives?
I am looking forward to hearing all your opinions. If you are interested in debating about this, or if you want to do a private online interview for the report I am writing, I will be happy to get in touch with you. No matter your age, nationality or political side, any opinion is welcome.
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As for work? I am an American and had no problems in Germany, France or the UK. None at all. But then, neither did my Swedes or Italian colleagues. The main thing that you were good at the job and and spoke the languages.

A lot of hate has built in the area we live in Germany regarding the organised break and enter teams frim Romania and a while ago Poland. The anger is that they cannot be prevented from staying in the country. But it will probably pass. The decision to restrict social programmes will also probably help.

What has been veey nice, has been that there were no waits crossing boardes within Schengen. It was like before the first world war. Cool, really.
 
I love it, i live close to both the German and the Belgian border (both within 7 miles) and I think it is great. No customs issues nothing.
 
free movement is one of the reasons that makes the EU great ... no borders are helpful as wellit opens the horizon for the young ... it gives them more opportunities
 
I live in Germany (Bavaria) and I love the Schengen agreement. My wife and I can jump in the car and drive to anywhere in Europe and have an Airbnb waiting for us when we get there. No hassles, no problems. It gives it very much the feeling of United States of Europe, but with interesting and culture rich destinations instead of places like Missouri and Oklahoma
 
Language barriers are by far the biggest impediment to permanent moves from one country to another. One must learn the local language, and that takes quite some time. Which is why many try, and many give up.

However, in many skilled jobs just the fact of mastering English will get you in as long as you are already an EU-citizen. Or married to one. No American coming to Europe should think that getting a job is "automatic". Not any longer, because of permanently high unemployment.

So, marry a local and within 5-years you will likely have national citizenship.

But still be required to pay your American taxes and FATCA will assure also assure that your French bank will pester the hell out of you. For instance, many banks in France no longer allow Americans to either gain interest on deposited savings or even to make investment acquisitions.

As well, obtaining a bank-account in another country other than the one you in which you live is, for some reason, also a no-no. So much for inter-EU bank competition.

Why an American law (FATCA - thank you, Obama) pertaining to American citizens should have precedence in France regarding banking-rights is beyond comprehension.

But it IS a fact ...
 
Hi Eleonora,
I´m German, born in 1972. All my childhood and youth we had a really efficient border strait through our country. Until 1989 I even did not know the names of most of the cities in the east.

I like traveling and I love Europe and the idea of open borders. Went to Tuscani in Italy last autum - we sat in the car and drove there. No control, no need to change money, everything easy going.
 
Talk to anybody in border areas on mainland Europe and you'll find the vast majority just couldn't go back to how it was before with border posts, controls, customs etc. Towns and cities in border areas have become so interlinked with immense economic, social and cultural benefits to all concerned. For example the interactions between Forbach (France) and Saarbrucken (Germany); Hendaye (France) and Irun (Spain) or Menton (France) and Ventimiglia (Italy) are so great: people often living in one country and hopping over the road to work in another, popping to the local shops over the border etc. Economically, the markets opened up to businesses who can now trade in areas that were once unreachable over the border have been immense.

There is nothing as cool as having your sangria and tapas in Spain and then just walking up the road to have your andouillette frites and glass of Bordeaux in France!

People in these border areas are often polyglot, and are so used to the cross cultual exchange and economic benefits, they just wouldn't accept going back to pre-Schengen.

Eleanor, if you speak French try to see the film "Rien à Déclarer" for a light hearted look at this. A Franco-Belgian comedy about the border disappearing. The lovely Benoît Poelvoorde is a bonus if you like the more mature sexy man! :cool:
 
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I'm all in favour of the open borders.
 
just to point out that (pertaining to this)
Lafayette said:
~.........................................
As well, obtaining a bank-account in another country other than the one you in which you live is, for some reason, also a no-no. So much for inter-EU bank competition.............................~
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I have (as a European) three different European bank accounts in just as many European countries (one not even EU) with absolutely no problem at all.
 
Chagos said:
just to point out that (pertaining to this)I have (as a European) three different European bank accounts in just as many European countries (one not even EU) with absolutely no problem at all.
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I have a bank account in Belgium and a bank account in the Nederlands. Somebody has been misinformed.
 
zyzygy said:
I have a bank account in Belgium and a bank account in the Nederlands. Somebody has been misinformed.
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I think FATCA rules somehow got mixed into the bag of inter-European banking.

That having been said, as a European you can't hide your income garnered in another EU country from the tax authorities in your home EU country either.

At least not just like that if one wants to make a success of it.

In fact probably not at all by now.
 
Are you American and therefore subject to American law.

If so, FATCA applies in Europe. Or so, my French banks would tell me about American accounts.

From an explanation of FATCA, and about the agreement, and I quote (from here):
1. Background of FATCA

The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted on 18 March 2010 and will be effective as from 1 July 2014. FATCA requires Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) to enter into legal agreements with the IRS according to which they would have to comply with due-diligence, information reporting and tax withholding obligations with respect to their US accounts.
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Key words .... "with respect to their US accounts". Also, the document repeatedly refers to FFI (Foreign Financial Institutions).

I am not an FFI.

My account with a French bank is hardly a US account. Still, my French bank, having been informed of the above statement, seems unwilling to understand.

Which does not surprise me in the least. French banking is some of the most backward on this planet ...
 
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National governments have a duty to protect the labor market for their citizens. To do otherwise is dereliction of their duty.
 
Lafayette said:
Are you American and therefore subject to American law.

If so, FATCA applies in Europe. Or so, my French banks would tell me about American accounts.

From an explanation of FATCA, and about the agreement, and I quote (from here):

Key words .... "with respect to their US accounts". Also, the document repeatedly refers to FFI (Foreign Financial Institutions).

I am not an FFI.

My account with a French bank is hardly a US account. Still, my French bank, having been informed of the above statement, seems unwilling to understand.

Which does not surprise me in the least. French banking is some of the most backward on this planet ...
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Actually you (as an American) would face the same annoying feature with any bank account that you'd have in any European country. It has nothing to do with inter-European banking (for Europeans) but is strictly between your particular government and yourself, as its subject.

FATCA does not apply to European citizens, obviously.

From the link in my #13:
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 United States federal law to enforce the requirement for United States persons including those living outside the U.S. to file yearly reports on their non-U.S. financial accounts to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It requires all non-US ('foreign') financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for indicia indicating 'US-person' status, such as a US birthplace, and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the US Department of the Treasury.
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European banks merely comply with FATCA in such cases where it applies and do so by mutual international agreement.
 
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Chagos said:
Actually you (as an American) would face the same annoying feature with any bank account that you'd have in any European country. It has nothing to do with inter-European banking (for Europeans) but is strictly between your particular government and yourself, as its subject.

FATCA does not apply to European citizens, obviously.

From the link in my #13:
European banks merely comply with FATCA in such cases where it applies and do so by mutual international agreement.
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ONLY FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, and not as an individual is FATCA applicable to Americans!

Which is why I created the post to see if other Yanks in France were having the same problem, which is a misinterpretation of the FATCA rules!

Read the documentation that is linked!
 
Lafayette said:
ONLY FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, and not as an individual is FATCA applicable to Americans!...............~
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Sorry, but the link that I (moi) supplied says differently.

To repeat:
..................to enforce the requirement for United States persons including those living outside the U.S. to file yearly reports on their non-U.S. financial accounts to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
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further enhanced by the explanation of
it requires all non-US ('foreign') financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for indicia indicating 'US-person' status, such as a US birthplace, and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the US Department of the Treasury.
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It is pertinent however to point out that agreement on mutual cooperation in this issue exists less between the US and the EU as a whole, but rather between the US and single European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Switzerland, in Europe but not in the EU, providing another example.

As such, what you criticize about Europe (better said the EU) is something better taken up with the government of your home country and I sure as heck wouldn't blame you, seeing how the whole "Act" certainly smells strongly of being unconstitutional.

In addition to which compliance by the countries listed above was obtained via outright bullying.

But that's another topic altogether, what with Europeans not suffering your predicament within the inter-European banking system.
 
Chagos said:
Sorry, but the link that I (moi) supplied says differently.

To repeat: further enhanced by the explanation of It is pertinent however to point out that agreement on mutual cooperation in this issue exists less between the US and the EU as a whole, but rather between the US and single European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Switzerland, in Europe but not in the EU, providing another example.
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The EU essentially capitulated on this matter.

All countries seem to be applying FATCA to American personnel resident permanently.

Which means that if you have more than $10K on any account, you must report it as taxable revenue in the US.

I cannot imagine how anyone on earth, because of birth, is taxable by a nation in which they do not reside.

In fact, no EU nation has such a warped taxation law - to my knowledge, which is why I posted this comment here ...
 
SDET said:
National governments have a duty to protect the labor market for their citizens. To do otherwise is dereliction of their duty.
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Protect how? With very high import duties? What does that get you? American made cars that sell worse than, say, South Korean cars smuggled in from Mexico/Canada? What is the sense of that?

Import Duties is a subject that has long been the responsibility of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where import duties are negotiated since the 1950s. There have been several rounds that have reduced said duties considerably and thus increased exports, which have created jobs around the globe - not just in the US.
 
Chagos said:
I think FATCA rules somehow got mixed into the bag of inter-European banking.

That having been said, as a European you can't hide your income garnered in another EU country from the tax authorities in your home EU country either.

At least not just like that if one wants to make a success of it.

In fact probably not at all by now.
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FATCA rules apply only to Americans living abroad, who are obliged to report revenue beyond $10K a year to the IRS.

However, Europeans are taxed on income made in whichever country they work. Their home country does not tax them, as does the US of its American nationals abroad.

And the American super-rich have been hoarding their ill-got gains since time immemorial in Europe. Particularly the Riviera in France ...
 
Lafayette said:
The EU essentially capitulated on this matter.

All countries seem to be applying FATCA to American personnel resident permanently.

Which means that if you have more than $10K on any account, you must report it as taxable revenue in the US.

I cannot imagine how anyone on earth, because of birth, is taxable by a nation in which they do not reside.

In fact, no EU nation has such a warped taxation law - to my knowledge, which is why I posted this comment here ...
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You can always make this problem go away: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/renunciation-of-citizenship.html
 
Lafayette said:
The EU essentially capitulated on this matter.

All countries seem to be applying FATCA to American personnel resident permanently.

Which means that if you have more than $10K on any account, you must report it as taxable revenue in the US.

I cannot imagine how anyone on earth, because of birth, is taxable by a nation in which they do not reside.

In fact, no EU nation has such a warped taxation law - to my knowledge, which is why I posted this comment here ...
Click to expand...

The only countries that do are the US and Eritrea.
 
Lafayette said:
The EU essentially capitulated on this matter.

All countries seem to be applying FATCA to American personnel resident permanently.

Which means that if you have more than $10K on any account, you must report it as taxable revenue in the US.

I cannot imagine how anyone on earth, because of birth, is taxable by a nation in which they do not reside.

In fact, no EU nation has such a warped taxation law - to my knowledge, which is why I posted this comment here ...
Click to expand...

Lafayette said:
FATCA rules apply only to Americans living abroad, who are obliged to report revenue beyond $10K a year to the IRS.

However, Europeans are taxed on income made in whichever country they work. Their home country does not tax them, as does the US of its American nationals abroad.

And the American super-rich have been hoarding their ill-got gains since time immemorial in Europe. Particularly the Riviera in France ...
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Oh, don't get me wrong.

I totally understand your frustration on this (US) issue.

It's just that your initial statement (that which led to opening this exchange) could be misunderstood as your criticism applying to European banking laws, more specifically to inter-European conduct of banks.
 
Chagos said:
Oh, don't get me wrong.

I totally understand your frustration on this (US) issue.

It's just that your initial statement (that which led to opening this exchange) could be misunderstood as your criticism applying to European banking laws, more specifically to inter-European conduct of banks.
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By "capitulation" I had meant that Berlaymont was (supposedly) so surprised at the Obama Administration that they did not at all think clearly. There was no "reciprocation".

They just bent over and (because we Yanks don't vote in Europe) we got effed ...
 
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