Job Discussion Forums

[Hod]

Without getting political, this EU thing isn�t going very well, is it? If I had any Euros, I�d think about changing them all into UK Pounds, US Dollars or gold sometime in the next year or two. It�s fair to say that politicians haven�t really got a clue right now, so for us living and working in Europe, we really have to keep the current situation towards the back of our minds.

North American friends say I�m lucky to have an EU passport. Oh yes. I can smugly work just about anywhere in mainland Europe and, as long as I pay tax, insurance, etc, have all the health insurance, unemployment benefits and property buying rights afforded to local residents in any EU country I choose to reside in.

An EU passport is indeed a magical thing, which not everyone seems to appreciate. As I was boarding a flight yesterday from sunny Tenerife to less sunny but equally nice Berlin, where I have lived happily now for six years, I noticed the neighbouring plane�s passengers boarding a charter flight to Manchester and wondered how on earth all these sunburnt and peeling British EU passport holders, with an entire continent to live and work in, would choose to return to and remain in such a downtrodden part of the world.

Will I be so smug, though, when the UK leaves/is kicked out of the EU? It�s starting to concern me more than ever that if/when the UK leaves the EU, apart from the resulting economic gloom suffered by millions, and I�m not saying I�d be treated like a recent boat refugee from deepest Senegal, but along with all UK citizens, my freedom of movement within the EU would be seriously curtailed.

As of tomorrow, I�m starting the application process for a German passport. If that�s going to take more than a couple of years, I�ll try for an Irish passport based on my grandparents� nationality. A UK passport, in the years to come, could lose its value very quickly.

My message for UK teachers based in Europe is not to rest on your laurels. Think about your options if you lose your current cushy number as an EU citizen. Look at getting another passport, if possible. Don�t ignore this current nonsense in Europe, because it is so important for all UK expats� futures.

[EFLeducator]

Is the United Kingdom using the Euro now?

[Hod]

No, of course not. You could've searched any news website on the planet to tell you that. The UK, just like countries such as Denmark, is still part of the EU without having the Euro as its currency.

The currency is not the issue here.

[fladude]

You'll still be able to work there. You will just have to compete with AMERICANS... Australians and the rest (and yes even I admit that Canadians are Americans...). There is no way that they will limit English teaching to the Irish... lol. It won't be so bad. Suck it up.

[Guy Courchesne]

[fladude]

[contented]

Geographically speaking, we are all North Americans.

[Sashadroogie]

There is no chance of the UK leaving or being forced to leave the EU. It has been sceptical of closer union for years, it is true, but this does not change the reality that Europe is part of it destiny, one way or another. UK passports won't lose their value, whatever that means.

Doubt any of this means that the non-EU anglophones will have any better chance of securing legal work there - totally different issues. But almost certainly, if the UK were to find itself out of the EU, then Ireland would probably be forced to follow, as it was forced to wait to join the EEC alongside the UK in the 70s. Common travel area, more trade links etc. So no limiting of English to just the Irish then. But I wouldn't bother with that passport application in any case, Hod.

I'd stop reading the Guardian of listening to the BBC. These and other similar media outlets simply rub their inky hands with glee every time there is some setback or other in the Eurozone, "I told you so!" barely concealed between every line of smug predictions of doom. Blissfully amnesiac of the very similar predictions made about the demise of the pound at the hands of speculators about twenty years ago.

Our jobs are safe in the EU, the euro will survive, the UK will stay firmly in Europe.

[Hod]

[Teacher in Rome]

Not sure about your analysis, Hod. Britain has been half-in, half-out of the EU for years - and so has a large part of Scandinavia. I don't think that with its current problems, the EU's first (or even second) priority will be to kick out the UK, and I don't think that even the current crop of europhobe politicians in the UK is stupid enough to push for complete withdrawal. The EU is simply too important a trade partner for Britain.

In my opinion, a far more likely scenario is that the eurozone will fracture, with some existing euro states leaving (those being Greece, Cyprus, possibly - though I hope not - Italy) leaving Germany, France, NL etc in a super-euro zone. But this would be the worst of all possible worlds even for the more robust northern European economies, unless they found another cheap market to sell their goods too.

In my scenario, Britain will be where it always is - heckling and jeering on the sidelines.

[Sashadroogie]

Go for the German one, then, Hod. But the Irish passport is not likely to do you any good at all, should the UK leave the union. Mainly because Ireland would have to choose between having a common travel area with Britain or with the EU. It would not be able to maintain both. If history (which I have a lot of 'faith' in) is anything to go by, Ireland would choose to retain its right of travel and work and voting in the UK, simply because this is much more valuable.

In any case, were such a split likely for the UK, I am almost certain that some type of 'Swiss' status would be conferred on the UK - all the travel rights etc. but none of the commitments. Perfect!

[Hod]

[spiral78]

I think the far more likely possibility is countries departing the EEC - but not the Union.

No harm in holding a continental passport, Hod, but I really think the biggest change we might actually see is some of the southern countries shifting currencies.

[naturegirl321]

The euro is pretty new and all currencies have their ups and downs. The EU isn't that old either. But don't you think more problems will be created rather than solved in countries start leaving or getting rid of the euro?

Is it likely that countries will leave the EU?

Edit: the EU has set up an immigration portal which has good info for people wanting to go there, http://ec.europa.eu/immigration/

[Teacher in Rome]