Valls opens door to Brexit business
The status of expatriates is vital if France is to reap some of the business benefits of Brexit, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said.
Mr Valls said that the government is working on a number of initiatives to make France - and Paris in particular - more attractive to international business, including measures concerning the status of expats, although he did not go into detail.
“We know that groups based in the City are planning to move to Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris,” Mr Valls told Le Parisien in a wide-ranging interview. “I am thinking particularly of taxation and the status of expatriates. So I say to major international companies: Welcome to Paris! Come and invest in France!”
As the uncertainty following the referendum result continues, up to 20% of big businesses, including the likes of Vodafone, were considering moving some operations outside the UK to keep one foot in the European Union, according to a survey by the Institute of Directors.
Some leaders in Brussels have called for the British government to trigger Article 50 and start exit negotiations immediately.
But, as the political fallout from the Brexit vote continues, two frontrunners for the leadership of the Conservative Party - and with it the keys to 10 Downing Street, Theresa May and Michael Gove, have said that they would not implement Article 50 until next year.
Meanwhile, Germany's vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel yesterday said Britons living in the European Union should be given dual citizenship so they can stay when their country leaves the bloc.
"Let us offer it (citizenship) to Britons who live in Germany, Italy or France, so they can remain European Union citizens in this country," he told a meeting of his center-left Social Democratic Party in Berlin on Saturday, as he called for Germany to relax its rules on citizenship.
