French Expats Get Own Ministers

French Expats will be able to elect dedicated Expat ministers starting this year.

London, UK (Pryce Warner International) January 4th, 2012 – There are 2.5 million French Expats around the world and from this year’s election they will be able to vote as part of 11 foreign constituencies.

The constituencies have been divided according to the most concentrated locations of French citizens abroad. There will be MPs for the UK and Northern Europe, the US, North and East Africa and seven other locations.

The new ministers have been introduced as part of the French government's plan to strengthen the voting rights and representation of it’s citizens around the world. It is hoped that this model will be adopted by other countries around the world.

By their nature the constituencies will be exceptionally large, the UK and Northern Europe for example will cover 400km squared. The constituency will also represent a very large number of French citizens, with over 400 000 based in London alone.

Several of the candidates believe that many Expats will be very eager to have their views represented. The Socialist candidate for the UK and Northern Europe, Axelle Lemaire, points out that many of those French citizens living in London are young and have specific political concerns that are not presently represented in the French Parliament.

Emmanuelle Savarit of the UMP Party, one of Lemaire’s rival candidates echoed this view saying that Expats have specific concerns relating to Tax, Education in two languages, health care and pension provision.

Though the candidates believe there is an appetite for Expats to vote, so far only 100 000 of French Expats in London eligible to vote have registered to do so. Overall French Expats are very happy that they are being given their own MP’s and constituencies and feel that their views have been underrepresented for too long.

Though the French are aiming to set an example it remains to be seen if any countries will follow suit. British Expats will almost certainly use this precedent as a point to lobby the British government, as many Expat groups have been pushing for representation in UK parliament for some time.

This is a particularly thorny issue for the millions of British Expats living abroad as they lose the right to vote after 15 years.

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By Aneil Fatania
Financial Editor
Pryce Warner International Group
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