Expats appeal to EU for Brexit protection
Call to protect citizens’ rights
CAMPAIGNERS on both sides of the Channel have urged European Union chiefs and 27 heads of state to take “urgent” action and protect the rights of people who took advantage of freedom of movement.
An estimated five million people – described as ‘the poster children’ of the initiative – used the bloc rules to start a new life abroad.
A letter appealing for guarantees has been sent to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council; and copied to Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit representative, the chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier, and the heads of state of the remaining 27 countries.
Jointly signed by Jane Golding of the British in Europe coalition and allies the 3million – which campaigns for EU nationals in the UK – the correspondence asks for both the EU and British government to sign the citizens’ rights part of the controversial Withdrawal Agreement.
The move followed British premier Theresa May’s historic defeat in the House of Commons for her deal for Brexit, scheduled for March 29 this year.
It reads that with Mrs May unable to win support: “We are being dragged closer to the cliff edge and crashing out without a guarantee of our rights...time is running out.
“We are asking you urgently to raise the matter with the UK government of safeguarding citizens’ rights; for the EU and UK jointly to commit now to honour under Article 50 the agreement already reached on this key priority.”
The groups fear a “disastrous” no deal situation for British expats, losing status “overnight” and dependant on the remaining 27 states making bilateral agreements – Spain has already tried to calm fears or citizens could lose current rights to live, work and study in countries they have called ‘home’ for many years.
And campaigners say “worse”, citizens were “very vulnerable” to a deteriorating climate between the EU and UK that could result in a “tit-for-tat reductions of rights.”
The letter states from the first interaction with Mr Barnier, the UK and the EU27 governments, all parties were urged to agree on rights and safeguard them whatever the outcome of Brexit; avoiding “five million citizens remaining in limbo”.
It said: “Together, we have been the poster children for EU free movement. We have moved across the channel. We have built lives, businesses and multinational families together. We have made dry legal concepts a reality and helped make the EU project what it is today.
“Despite this, we do not feel the (European) council has defended the rights of its citizens, be they British or from the EU27 countries. Some of the most fundamental rights of five million committed Europeans have been negotiated away, and without a deal, even the protections offered by the Withdrawal Agreement fall away.”
Supported by the3million, British in Europe said 1.3 million UK citizens must be allowed ongoing free movement or “live in uncertainty for years to come” – which could affect many livelihoods dependent on this right.
It called on both sides to implement the citizens’ rights part of the agreement without delay or for both sides to state it would be done post-Brexit.
“The (European) Council and its member states can still choose to take action before March 30 and ensure that five million EU citizens, who have simply exercised their free movement rights to build a better future, are not penalised for this.”