We too are supposed to be getting an electronic system. We already have electronic 'membership' cards called the carte vitale which contain non medical data.
They tried to implement the scheme a few years ago but it was scrapped in 2008 only to be reinstated earlier this year. I'm not holding my breath that it will come to fruition.
In France records will only be created when the patient gives explicit consent, whereas in the UK I understand that consent will be assumed. Here people will be able to add/change some personal information and then decide who is authorised to have access to their medical record. Moreover, patients will have the right to withhold some medical information from certain health professionals . For example, a patient could decide to hide that s/he has cancer from his/her dentist, so when the dentist enters into his/her medical file this information would not appear on the record without him realising that there is some hidden information.
Personally, I like the system at the moment , I have paper copies of all my blood tests, copies of retinal scans, mammogram x rays, stress test ecg printouts, copies of doctors reports etc. I make my own appointments (after being told I need them by the diabetologist or GP) and select my own doctor. I'm given a blood test prescription and its up to me to visit the lab. Most doctors give me the copies of the report to take to the referring doctor. (they dictate it and I wait whilst the secretary types it or more often uses a computer template.) A copy of the lab results is sent direct to me.
Frequently one has to pay 'upfront' and are reinbursed. This means the relationship between doctor and patient is one of service provider and client, so the test/examination results quite naturally belong to the patient. In the UK, it often seems that test results and reports are protected information shared between doctors and withheld or released to the patient according to the doctors own beliefs
(I know people have the right to see their own records but they seem to have to jump through hoops to get that access)
Having to keep your own records, organise all appointments etc puts the onus on the patient, but also seems to saves a lot of paper shuffling and levels of bureaurocracy.
(It's not perfection though, the system of payments to belong to the system, payments to doctors followed by reimbursement is overcomplicated and very bureaucratic. What they save in one place is unfortunately more than made up for elsewhere.)