Bringing goods from the EU

[Awac]

YES That's my biggest fear , been working in France doing a major reno / rebuild job and took nearly my whole workshop over wtih me including my startrite ta 275 saw , but no after a few euro buys of some kit, when I return home I'm wondering will I get hit with import + vat on all my tooling.

If so , I'll just turn around and go back , pipper paying those taxes. !

Karl [ currently stuck in a Dutch lockdown ☹ ]

You are not alone with this one....have a project barn build myself....

 

[houtslager]

You are not alone with this one....have a project barn build myself....

where in France , as I'm back in the Lyon / Grenoble region once lockdown and travel restrictions are over. Got a kitchen to build in ssitu and make a load of internal doors [ copying original ] also in situ.

K

 

[Richard_C]

With a UK passport you have free movement within Ireland. With an Irish passport you have full EU rights to travel, live, work and retire in any or all of 27 countries, from the Arctic circle to rhe Mediterranean sea, be part of the biggest free trade zone the world has ever seen, and enjoy protections and rights guaranteed by the ECJ. There is a difference.

 

[RobinBHM]

With a UK passport you have free movement within Ireland. With an Irish passport you have full EU rights to travel, live, work and retire in any or all of 27 countries, from the Arctic circle to rhe Mediterranean sea, be part of the biggest free trade zone the world has ever seen, and enjoy protections and rights guaranteed by the ECJ. There is a difference.

NI stays in SM for goods.....potential for lots of FDI.

And Arlene Foster did more towards reunification than any politician for decades

 

[Awac]

With a UK passport you have free movement within Ireland. With an Irish passport you have full EU rights to travel, live, work and retire in any or all of 27 countries, from the Arctic circle to rhe Mediterranean sea, be part of the biggest free trade zone the world has ever seen, and enjoy protections and rights guaranteed by the ECJ. There is a difference.

And as one of those lucky individuals with duel nationality and both passports, I am going to have such fun at customs...I am just saddened that people who want to travel/live are restricted, it seems so retrogressive.

 

[clogs]

nobody has asked about vac cleaners.....
can we get the high powered one back.....????? LOL...
now we are free to decide for ouselves.....
straight bannanas and cucumbers are a thing of the past.....

Here in Crete I've heard grumbles of "WISH IT WERE US".....also when living in the Charente region of FR an awful lot of locals wish they could join the Brexit / Frexit camp......
not a lot of happy campers within the EU either....

just an idea.....for those with big kit that want to take it back...strip it down to create used spare parts.....wink wink....
who would know the value of a panel saw top etc......just mix up the parts in differant boxes and seperate trips....
the 4x4 dumper and mini digger are worth more in FR than the UK anyway and they are not cheap to move.....
when we moved here the only thing we brought with us was a brand new American fridge freezer bought buy mistake (we got the old one working) and was on a 50% discount offer....everything else was sold or given away....just not worth the transports costs....
as for machines and tooling a 1920's pick up truck and 2 antique tractors we used 2 forty foot artic's .....hahaha.....

 

[Just4Fun]

YES That's my biggest fear , been working in France doing a major reno / rebuild job and took nearly my whole workshop over wtih me including my startrite ta 275 saw , but no after a few euro buys of some kit, when I return home I'm wondering will I get hit with import + vat on all my tooling.

I am in the same position but in reverse. I have a load of stuff in the UK that I intended to bring over here (Finland) in 2020. With the COVID situation that didn't happen - who knows when a road trip through about 9 countries is going to be possible? When I do try it I assume I am going to have problems with customs somewhere.

 

[Rorschach]

I am just saddened that people who want to travel/live are restricted, it seems so retrogressive.

For some I am sure it is sad, but how many people does that actually represent vs the people who struggle because the borders are open to those who want to come here?

Judging by a lot of the comments here it seems to boil back down to a point that has been raised before, the haves vs the have nots. The people who wanted to remain appear to me to be people with money and comfort. Second homes in France, renovation projects, retired like to travel.
I don't have a problem with that, I don't begrudge anyone for enjoying the benefits of their capital whether hard earned or not. But people who think like that seem to forget that the vast majority of the country is not in that position.
I am sure it would be lovely to have a second home in the south of Spain, I love Spain and spending my winters there would be much nicer than spending them here, but that isn't a realistic prospect for me or anyone I know.

 

[jcassidy]

If you listen to some former MEP's you will find that a lot of EU law was written with a great deal (possibly a large majority) of UK input, so it's not so much that we are following laws written by the EU as much as we are following laws written largely by ourselves.

That's just not accurate. All EU law is written with a great deal of input from ALL the EU countries with an interest. I've been exposed to the process, the biggest influence comes from whoever holds the EU Presiency, which rotates every six months.
Nothing becomes law without all States approving it, so thinking that the French, Germans or Italians are blindly signing off on UK-written rules is nonsense.

 

[Rorschach]

That's just not accurate. All EU law is written with a great deal of input from ALL the EU countries with an interest. I've been exposed to the process, the biggest influence comes from whoever holds the EU Presiency, which rotates every six months.
Nothing becomes law without all States approving it, so thinking that the French, Germans or Italians are blindly signing off on UK-written rules is nonsense.

You have clearly not understood what I have written there.

 

[custard]

With a UK passport you have free movement within Ireland. With an Irish passport you have full EU rights to travel, live, work and retire in any or all of 27 countries, from the Arctic circle to rhe Mediterranean sea

+1

Yesterday I had the freedom to live and work anywhere in Europe, waking up today that's no longer the case. I get that the vote's done and it's time to move on, but the truth is that right now I feel the loss of that freedom sorely, a lot more than I expected to.

I've got duel citizenship, British and Canadian. I'll stick around for a year or two, but if I still feel this same sense of loss of liberty, then a move to Vancouver's on the cards.

 

[Awac]

For some I am sure it is sad, but how many people does that actually represent vs the people who struggle because the borders are open to those who want to come here?

Judging by a lot of the comments here it seems to boil back down to a point that has been raised before, the haves vs the have nots. The people who wanted to remain appear to me to be people with money and comfort. Second homes in France, renovation projects, retired like to travel.
I don't have a problem with that, I don't begrudge anyone for enjoying the benefits of their capital whether hard earned or not. But people who think like that seem to forget that the vast majority of the country is not in that position.
I am sure it would be lovely to have a second home in the south of Spain, I love Spain and spending my winters there would be much nicer than spending them here, but that isn't a realistic prospect for me or anyone I know.

"In the distance and through the darkness we can see the brightly illuminated pub sign of our destination"-Boris Johnstone (New year message). I think we can see what Boris thinks about the majority of the population, show them a pub and they will follow you.If that is his vision of the Uk, it is very narrow.

Perception. I am not rich. I have accommodation provided by work. I bought a "project" and I mean a project 7 years ago. I go back in winter for a couple of months and do a little more with what I have scraped together every year.The EU allowed me to live where I want and I was on track to build my modest retirement home over the next 15 years. I always wanted a barn, it's to do with the wood y'see.

You don't begrudge anyone for having "capital" hard earned or not? Now then brother, I begrudge anything which stops the "have nots" living how they want.
But I think your real problem is " the people who struggle because the borders are open to those who want to come here?" So now that the borders are closed no one is going to struggle any more in the Uk? Wow, who doesn't want to live in the land of milk and honey? I'm interested, how is your life going to change?

 

[billw]

So now that the borders are closed no one is going to struggle any more in the Uk? Wow, who doesn't want to live in the land of milk and honey? I'm interested, how is your life going to change?

Recall this summer just gone, when farmers were struggling to get the usual immigrant workforce to pick crops. Behold! All those damned immigrants can't steal our jobs now! The poor can rejoice for there is opportunity at last.

Then stuff rotted in fields because nobody wanted to do the work for the money on offer. The same people who'd kick up a fuss about carrots going up 5p a kilo if the workforce was paid more.

Can't win. It's all utter nonsense.

FWIW from an academic standpoint, the white working class are somewhat vilified and feel victimised, I fear that BoJo is going to attempt a nationalistic campaign of Trumpian proportions to gee them up a bit.

 

[doctor Bob]

Then stuff rotted in fields because nobody wanted to do the work for the money on offer. The same people who'd kick up a fuss about carrots going up 5p a kilo if the workforce was paid more.

I really don't want any involvement in this thread but need to put a point down.
My 28 year old newphew picked spring onions in Kent last year, along with 30 uk people and 40 romanians. The gang master was Romanian, he withheld wages of the UK guys for 3 weeks eventually 25 walked off unpaid, my nephew worked for 60 days and got paid for 18 in the end. Romanians were given accomadation, UK not, he lived in a camper van. Not a thing he could do. It was peice work and he reckoned he worked at about 80% of a typical experienced ganger. Sounds like grapes of wrath.

 

[Awac]

Obviously this thread is bringing up quite a few deep feelings.

Brexit was sold on emotions. 52% v 48%.
The country has had a huge decision made by 2% of people (demographic older, and probably dead by now, so their vote effects younger people now coming of voting age). In a company you need 75% vote to pass an extraordinary resolution. As a remain, I would not have been happy with only a 2% majority. A non-partisan public funded report should have been put forward to the public. We all think we are right, but nobody has produced such a report that we could have voted on with an informed non emotional opinion. I could accept the result then.

The original question was bringing in goods from the EU. Does goods also include knowledge and cooperation?
In Germany they have travelling journeymen, their pilgrimage is fairly simple: walk around the world for three years with only a light bundle. Knock on random doors, and see if strangers will put you up and feed you in exchange for fixing their roofs, making furniture and tailoring their clothes. The practice fell out of favour in the industrial age, but craftsmen still wandered up until the 1920s. Then the Nazis banned it, and the Berlin Wall made the travelling nearly impossible, but after the 80s, it slowly began to return.

Photo. Wikipedia.

The point? Exchange of information. Communication. What a fantastic way to learn a craft. This is what makes people and communities stronger. The more segregated you are, the more controlled you are. Brexit is going to make this harder. Besides who wouldn't want to wear this! Cool!

 

[Jacob]

Gotta start making the best of a bad job and rethinking a few things?
Interesting read:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/31/the-left-brexit-economic-uk"....The four freedoms of the single market – no barriers to the movement of goods, services, people and capital – are actually the four pillars of neoliberalism...."

 

[stuartpaul]

I've got duel citizenship, British and Canadian. I'll stick around for a year or two, but if I still feel this same sense of loss of liberty, then a move to Vancouver's on the cards.

Carry your bag sir?

 

[jcassidy]

@Rorschach, you wrote "a lot of EU law was written with a great deal (possibly a large majority) of UK input, so it's not so much that we are following laws written by the EU as much as we are following laws written largely by ourselves."

With utmost respect for your opinion that the UK will be ok after BREXIT (which I'm inclined to agree with, long-term), it is simply not accurate to suggest that the UK has a majority say in general in EU regulations.

Obviously if the UK is very interested in any particular Directive or Regulation, and no-one else could care less, then in that case, the proposal may largely be written by UK negotiators. That goes the same for any other Directive or Regulation and for any other country. For example, I doubt if the UK had any great interest in bank resolution regulations, as the UK was never a member of the Euro, but would have been heavily invested in financial markets regulation.

Therefore it is not accurate to say that "we are following laws written largely by ourselves". If that was accurate, then there'd be no case for BREXIT at all.

The fact is, the EU is a union of diverse countries and cultures, with different and conflicting interests and priorities. Whilst the UK wins some, it loses some, and this is what is intolerable for the ascendent BREXIT wing of the Conservative party.

I understood perfectly what you meant, it's just not accurate.

 

[Awac]

I really don't want any involvement in this thread but need to put a point down.
My 28 year old newphew picked spring onions in Kent last year, along with 30 uk people and 40 romanians. The gang master was Romanian, he withheld wages of the UK guys for 3 weeks eventually 25 walked off unpaid, my nephew worked for 60 days and got paid for 18 in the end. Romanians were given accomadation, UK not, he lived in a camper van. Not a thing he could do. It was peice work and he reckoned he worked at about 80% of a typical experienced ganger. Sounds like grapes of wrath.

And the Irish famine was exacerbated by the English government, doesn't make you a bad person by being English. My point is bad and good in every culture and people. This is a bad person we are talking about, not a nationality.

 

[jcassidy]

In Germany they have travelling journeymen, their pilgrimage is fairly simple: walk around the world for three years with only a light bundle. Knock on random doors, and see if strangers will put you up and feed you in exchange for fixing their roofs, making furniture and tailoring their clothes. The practice fell out of favour in the industrial age, but craftsmen still wandered up until the 1920s. Then the Nazis banned it, and the Berlin Wall made the travelling nearly impossible, but after the 80s, it slowly began to return.

Such wandering German craftsman worked on Jeremy Irons castle for a time.

" There was the pair of Germans who happened along the road one day in stovepipe hats and tailcoats, observing an archaic rite known as Wanderjahr, in which apprentice craftsmen, upon completing their training, spend several years journeying and improving upon their craft, their costumes conveying to potential employers that they are not vagabonds. One of the Germans was a carpenter and the other a stonemason. “They carved all our figurative windows, and then, after six months, they were off,” said Irons."

How Jeremy Irons Rescued and Restored a 15th-Century Irish Castle