Brussels briefing

Making the vote count — from abroad

France, now under the rule of François Hollande is doing its bit to help European integration. For the first time, the 160,000 French citizens living in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are electing their own representative to the National Assembly in Paris this month.

French nationals resident abroad have been electing 12 senators to represent the 2m of them living outside the country for some years. Their demands are for greater EU integration — pushing for schools in their native language, to recognise their professional qualifications, and to smooth the differences when it comes to tax, family law, and inheritances.