France has one the biggest civil service (related to the amount of citizen) and also the worst and most inefficient in the world. Everything that can be done by one person is done in France by 3-4 and more clerks. As a result nobody really knows what is going on, papers are being lost, communication between the different offices is lousy and the citizen get the worst possible service. People are really very nice in these offices but extremely useless.
here is a little story i have been through.
After 3 years in France you may think i got used to the awfully cumbersome administration and bureaucracy, but I was wrong.
More then a year ago I applied to the MDPH (Maison de Hadicape) to acknowledge me as a handicapped as I am deaf. Of course this procedure included awful lot of paperwork. and when done I brought it to the MDPH, they checked the papers and said its ok. 2 days later I received by mail 3 more papers to fill… they forgot.
After 3 months the MDPH approved of my deafness and sent all the papers to the CAF so I can apply for what they call "allocation". The CAF in return sent all the papers it received from the MDPH back to me.
But… they didn’t leave any copy for themselves. after waiting 4 months we contacted the CAF and they said they didn’t receive the papers from the MDPH. oh well, there was no use to argue that they had the papers.
So we went there and gave them all the papers. The clerk needed a confirmation from the Securite sociale for how long i have Securite sociale, but the date she needed actually appeared on the paper we gave her.
Oh well, no use to argue, this is France, so we drove to the Securite Sociale where the put a stamp on the same paper and wrote in hand writing what was already typed. We got back to the CAF with the paper and asked the clerk "are you sure you have everything ?"
She said yes, and that I will have an answer in 10 days. 4 days later I got a message from the CAF that they need another paper (my Income Tax declaration – Impot).
Nasty, annoying but, no use to argue this is France. I sent them this paper as well. 10 days later i get an answer that my request was refused. Why ? because The regulation say that I need 30 salaries in France to apply. Hell I wasted one year and ran like crazy between the offices, with thousand of papers, They could actually give me this answer right away.
If these indeed are the regulation then there was absolutely no need to deal with my stuff just tell me: "sorry you can’t apply" Well, useless to get mad and nobody to talk too.
This is France
but why are you making a comparison ? i am not saying one place is better then the other, i say there is a need to change things, for the good of the citizens. don’t you agree ? does it matter to you that it can be worse when you know it can be better ?
Amit…Je trouve dommage que vous déversiez tant de fiel sur un pays qui vous acceuille…en utilisant la fenêtre ouverte d’un site voué à l’intelligence…Mais comme la Liberté d’expession est un droit offert à tous, même aux ingrats et aux fourbes j’ai l’immense honneur de vous signaler que c’est avec un bonheur infini que je « zapperai » vos articles, non pas par dégout…quoique!…mais juste pour ne pas faire monter ma tension bêtement…pour la faire monter je préfère d’autres choses beaucoup plus douces!…lol…
Salut Amit, au divin Plaisir de ne plus vous lire.Yohann
PS: « If you think than pissing off is funny so next time piss off yourself and tell us how you enjoy… »
yohann
This country didn’t welcome me, i have the right to be here just like you have the right to be in my country of citizenship. however while in Germany it would take you a short while i was running around with papers for 3 years without medical insurance that i has full rights to have. France is no longer alone its part of the European union.
and anyway i wrote something that everyone agree on and this is a fact The French administration is too much the French bureaucracy is horrible. You believe only native French have to right to say so ?
WHAT IS YOUR NATIONALITY ? are you a Mossad agent, Amit?
« Margaret Tatcher destroyed the unions and created a healthier economy in the UK »
EN GRANDE BRETAGNE , LES TRAINS ETAIENT POURRIS DE SON TEMPS !
She (Margaret) was often drunked with whisky !!!!!!!!!!
The royal scotland Bank is public now !
Be awakened , Amit !
go spit in ISRAEL, Amit !
i have two nationalities. Israeli and German (EU). Yes the french train system is better then the English (of course when they are not in strike (greve). The royal bank of scotland was always public. and i have no idea where you lived from the time margret tatcher was english prime minister until the crisis in the middle there were 4 other prime minister and the English economy prospered. and today It crashed like the rest of the world, i don’t have to remind you the number that the un employment rate in france is going up like crazy.
veritas
I do it once a week ! in the bible language with reader more intelligent then you are that can identify legitimate criticism and understand its important.
Amit,
Je me demandais d’où venaient vos infos; je comprends tout maintenant; c’est le style du Bild-Zeitung, ein ehrloses Klatschblatt, eine üble Kloake.
Il m’est arrivé de le lire pour rire pendant mes pauses jadis tant l’info est grossiere. Infinitely worse than french journalism
Being half german, you should know that the German industry survived the crisis, only beacause of a strong relationship between the unions and the employers ; german salaries are 30 % above French or british salaries for that reason.
« Bureaucraty » is easier in France than in many other countries, because I never had a problem with it (I am trying to adopt your way of thinking). To be just and right, the French criticize more their politicians than their public services (unlike inthe States or in Germany);
I do not try to compare with other countries but I have lived and worked abroad for 25 years (more than in france); I also have friends of different nationalities; I recently contacted 5 very good friends in England, all engineers in the high tech (software development, QA and testing) between 44 and 50 years old and all unemployed since a year, with excellent references. By the way, without a diploma, and with your age, you would not get a job in Germany.
Nothing aggressive from me , just boredom … You have all rights , even to write bullsh..
Apart from criticizing what you don’t know, why don’t you try to do something useful like an NGO project
i will start with the last.. I will take ANY job i can »
as for hi-tech in the age of 40 and above you will not find a job unless you have been in the job for a long time before. This industry is soul sucker and 35 is old there.
as for the rest, criticism should be on any level, when i write my column to the israeli magazine I criticize civil service, politician, judges, religion, anything. because if something is wrong you should say it out aloud.
one thing you don’t realize about civil service: civil service have to be paid, it is paid from taxes i.e from citizens. Now go to Alsace go to the supermarket in Saint Louis check the prices of FOOD, then cross the bridge to Germany (100 meters walking) and get into the supermarket in the German side. The prices of everything is 20-50% cheaper !! and you will hear mostly French. The French pay dearly for this huge public service that they keep defending, but they blame the government and therefore prevent any cuts, but then they complain about the taxes.
as for the unions the union in France are different then the unions everywhere because they are not professional (if the SNCF is on strike the management have to deal with 8 different unions its not logical) SNCF is public service, Radio France is public service they all are and they always get what they want, and guess who is paying you and now me also, the tax payers… I figure out you are an IT professional, like most people in the profession (and i managed very big development teams you see the small picture, and the immediate consequences but not the big picture and the slow rotting of the whole French economy which is actually hidden quite well inside the whole thing that is called the EU economy.
and agnes…
few things i must say: 1. you are one of the more intelligent people in met here (and i met a lot) 2. your english is great and you are not afraid of using it 3. its a pleasure to have a discussion with you.