UKIP to the rescue

English people here have been having a problem withdrawing money from Italian ATMs with English debit cards. Today, I decided to appeal to Caesar and finding a web-site for contacting MEPs representing the East of England I sent the following email:

‘Gentlemen.

I am a UK citizen who has been living in Italy for the past five years - the English address is my daughter's. Until December 2003 I lived in Norfolk. 

   My income is in sterling: my state pension being paid into the Italian Post Office Bank (BancoPosta) and my occupational pension into my Lloyds TSB UK account - registered to my Italian address. 

   Over the last year or so, as the Italian banks have updated their ATMs, it is no longer possible to withdraw cash from the new machines using an English debit card, though curiously it is possible to withdraw cash using an English credit card with all the additional costs which this incurs. My wife and I - and many other English residents - have contacted their banks without any result. The UK banks blame the Italians, the Italian banks, the UK. Meanwhile we are unable to withdraw cash from our own bank accounts although the debit cards still function in retailers.

   I should be most grateful for any pressure you could bring to bear on the EU to resolve this problem. I imagine that once the problem becomes widely known it will have a negative impact on tourism in Italy, making a resolution as much in Italy's interests as in those of UK citizens.

Yours faithfully,’

I found the site for the Italian Socialist MEPs and sent them a similar message:

<<Onorevoli signori

Sono un cittidano inglese residente in Italia da cinque anni. Il mio reditto proviene dal'Inghilterra - un pensione di stato, ed un pensione da lavoro. Il mio pensione di stato è versato nel mio conto BancoPosta. Comunque il mio pensione da lavoro è versato nel mio conto bancario inglese Lloyds TSB. 

Ecco il problema:  

    Da più o meno un anno i banchi italiani sono ammodernando i loro bancomat. Addesso si non può prelevare contanti dai nuovi bancomat con una carta di debito inglese. 

        Sempre si può le usare in negozio, e le carte di credito inglese     funzianano in bancomat. Ma usare la carta di credito per prelevare contanti è molto costoso. La moglie ed  

       io - e tanti inglesi conosciuiti da noi - ci abbiamo messo in contatto colli nostri banchi inglesi ed italiani. Contatti inutili! I banchi inglesi danno la colpa ai banchi italiani, i 

       banchi italiani ai banchi inglesi.

Sarei grato se possiate far pressione sul UE risolvere il problema. Secondo me, una volta che il problema sia conosciuto su vasta scala ci sara un impatto negativo sul turismo italiano. Quindi una soluzione sarebbe nell'interesse sia di Italia sia degli inglesi residenti in Italia. Finalmente, prego scusarmi il mio brutto italiano.

I miei più distinti saluti,>>

Within an hour I’d received a phone call from Tom Wise, an MEP who seems to have resigned from UKIP because it was too moderate! The phone call was followed up by a copy of his email to his Italian colleagues. So we have the irony that someone who detests the EU is the sort of chap who could change the public perception of the EU in a positive way. None of the other MEPs, Tories, Labour, LibDem, or the Italian PD, have responded at all.