Nice spot of work after tiring down time

OPINION: Boom. We're back at work, writes Cherie Sivignon in this week's L'expat.

After a European summer of unemployment, my husband Franck and I are both working what seems like 24 hours a day.

And it feels good.

The summer of 2009 was the first time I have been unemployed and it was not a nice experience. Yes, there was plenty of time to spend with the children but no spare money to enjoy the freedom.

It was also tiring.

I suppose the worry associated with the lack of financial security was a big part of the fatigue, but it always seems more tiring doing little than running around being busy.

While Franck and I are employed at a hotel this winter, it is only seasonal work so one of us still needs to find a permanent job to begin in the spring.

We're both searching. With one employed in a permanent fulltime job, the other can seek seasonal (summer and winter) work close to our home in the French Alps.

Ah, the juggle of work and kids. I still hope to travel a bit, too, once we have more financial stability. The rest of Europe is right on my doorstep, for goodness sake.

There was a bit of early New Year cheer for French residents last Tuesday when the French Constitutional Council struck down the Government's plan for the introduction of a carbon tax, which had been due to take effect last Friday.

The new tax was going to add to the cost of petrol, diesel, coal and gas. It was set at 17 (NZ$34) per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions, and was aimed at encouraging French residents to stop wasting energy. It would have added an extra 4 centimes (NZ80c) to a litre of petrol and would have meant a double whammy for us; living in the car-reliant sticks and using gas central heating.

The Constitutional Council, a legal compliance watchdog, ruled that too many exemptions created inequalities and unfairly placed the burden for cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions on a minority of consumers. It said more than 1000 of the country's top polluters would have been able to dodge the tax and that the legislation did not apply to 93 per cent of emissions from industrial sources.

Consumer groups had also complained that rural families, with no public transport option, would have been hit particularly hard. They also argued that cash-strapped families could not afford the home renovations that could make a difference.

So, big industry exempt, little guys forced to cough up. Hmmm.

I say yay for the Socialists who asked the council for the ruling, arguing it was unfair on low-income families – rural low-income families in particular.

However, President Nicolas Sarkozy's government isn't giving up. It's back to the drawing board and Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced a new bill on carbon tax would be submitted to Cabinet this month.

Hey-ho. We'll enjoy the reprieve while it's here. Happy New Year everyone.

» Cherie Sivignon is a former Southland Times journalist who has moved to France with her French-born husband and their family.

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