London mayor slams "shameful" French action against British ski instructor

The arrest of a British ski instructor in the Alps in February has put the spotlight on French laws concerning ski instructors and led to accusations that the rules are aimed at protecting jobs for French instructors.

An instructor from the Ecole de Ski Français (ESF) with pupils AFP photo/Tripelon-Jarry/onlyfrance.fr

British ski instructor Simon Butler is to appear in court on 7 April in the Alpine town of Bonneville after being arrested in Mégève on 18 February, held in custody and charged with “the instruction of ski ing by unqualified persons, employing unqualified people to teach ski ing.”

He was released the following day, with judicial restrictions.

Butler maintains his treatment is in total contravention of EU laws on the freedom to work within member countries.

Simon Butler and the instructors he employs have diplomas awarded by the British Association of Snowsport Instructors, but this qualification is not recognised in France.

Butler was fined in 2004 over the same question and in 2013 he was given a six-month prison sentence, though he appealed against the decision.

“The arrest, the custody, the trial, the fact that I am not allowed to leave French territory, the fact that I have to report to the gendarmerie, the fact that I am not allowed to work …. this attitude is absolutely sickening” he told journalists.

However, Pierre-Yves Michau, the French Public Prosecutor said Butler is “in total rebellion against French law”. Michau points out that Butler is free to challenge French laws [on allowing ski instructors to work with non-French diplomas] at European Union level if he so wishes.

At the moment, says Michau, there is no agreement between different countries on the competency equivalence of different diplomas and “M Butler, quite simply does not fulfil the conditions necessary to teach in France.”

Butler maintains that France refuses to accept his qualifications because French ski instructors do not want any competition from foreign ski teachers.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson shares Butler’s conclusion describing the trial as a "total, undisguised and shameful" attempt to trample on the principles of the European Single Market.

Butler says he is “very confident” about his position but that if he loses his case and can no longer work in France, he will “take my hundred or so weekly clients to Switzerland instead.”