Councillor role and Brexit
The 900 British people who hold positions as town councillors in France will be able to retain them until at least the next local elections in 2020, whatever the outcome of Brexit.
This was confirmed by the French government during an examination of a French no-deal contingency planning law in the Senate.
The news will be welcomed by many of the Britons sitting on councils, such as Karen Blakemore, from Saint-Merd-de-Lapleau in Corrèze, who has been a local councillor since 2014.
It means, though, that time is limited for those seeking to sit again after spring 2020 as they will need to obtain French nationality. Mrs Blakemore recently put in an application and is hoping it will be processed in time.
“It would have been a very sad situation, had we not been allowed to continue,” she said.
“I always planned to apply for nationality but it’s made me concentrate my efforts. We’ve both got 10-year cartes de séjour now.”
For Mrs Blakemore, 57, a former university administrator, it was a case of “in at the deep end”, after she was asked if she would like to join the mairie council just a year after she and her husband Tim moved to France.
The village of 173 residents has special traditions for elected councillors, including having a procession to each new councillor’s home to plant a tree (see photo). “It’s to bring you good luck for your future role and elections,” she said. They also install a plaque with a French flag attached – she originally asked permission to add a St George’s flag but now has decided to have two French ones instead.
The couple are the only residents of non-French origin.
“We got as integrated as we could very early on,” she said.
“In the first three years, my jobs included managing a 20-person gîte belonging to the commune. We’re on a popular hiking route and people come from all over France.
“It was a challenge because I only had O-level French but I’m very enthusiastic about speaking it and am not afraid of making mistakes or being corrected. The added difficulty was getting used to the Corrèze accent and the patois the older generation use, like à demo for à demain (see you tomorrow) or mershi instead of merci.”
In addition to around eight meetings a year, plus ceremonies on special occasions such as Remembrance Day, she now works on some of the larger projects at the mairie.
“I have particularly enjoyed being involved in the project to name all of the roads in our commune and the allocation of house numbers prior to fibre being delivered to our area.
“I also help deliver Christmas food parcels to the elderly and housebound and take part in a senior citizens’ meal each year and each July I help run a stand at the village brocante.”
