'No deal' worry for expats

Failure to reach an agreement could end Britons’ legal status in Europe

WITH members of the UK government talking up ‘no deal’ in the Brexit negotiations, influential expat groups have said this scenario could hit expats hard.

Chair of the British in Europe association Jane Golding confirmed that there is already a deal on citizens’ rights ‘which would confirm many of our rights but only in the countries where we live now’.

However, she told Costa Blanca News: “If the two sides do not honour it, British people in Europe would lose their current legal status.”

Therefore British in Europe will be pushing hard in the coming months for the deal reached in December on citizens’ rights to be ring-fenced.

Sue Wilson, chair of Valen- cia-based Bremain in Spain, said: “Talk of a possible no-deal scenario is being used by the UK government as a bargaining tool in the negotiations - we can expect much more of the same and worse over the coming months.”

THIS week Costa Blanca News spoke to chair of the British in Europe association, Jane Golding – a lawyer living in Germany who works across the EU.

International trade secretary Liam Fox says the chance of a no-deal Brexit is growing, blaming the ‘intransigence’ of the European Commission. He puts the chance of failing to come to an agreement at 6040.

Is this political brinkmanship on the part of the British government in the negotiations, or do you think it is now a real possibility?

Let’s put this in context. Nothing much was happening from the UK side in terms of a plan between March and July and when we went to Brussels in June, having no deal on our list of points to raise again, those we met raised it for us.

The mood was pessimistic that there might be no deal by default - and this was not what they wanted. Theresa May did come up with a plan in July, but given that she has not managed to sell it to all in her party, let alone other politicians in the UK, it is likely to be an uphill struggle to sell it to the EU.

When Liam Fox raised no deal, clearly this was politically motivated but no deal is probably no more likely now than it was already several months ago. The clock is ticking.

What would a no-deal Brexit mean for British people living in Europe?

There is already a deal on citi- zens’ rights which would confirm many of our rights but only in the countries where we live now. Although not good enough in our view because free movement is not included, in the event of a no deal we would push both sides hard with the3million to honour it. That is why we will be pushing ring fencing hard again in the next months. If the two sides do not honour it, British people in Europe would lose their current legal status. Arrangements would have to be put in place whereby third country national status would apply to us to give us a legal status - but to be clear, this is in no way equivalent to being EU citizens, as the rights are inferior. That is why it is so important for the UK and EU to ring fence and honour the agreement reached so far on citizens’ rights.

Do you think our rights as EU citizens would remain intact after March 29 in a no-deal scenario? If so, for how long?

Our rights as EU citizens will not remain intact after March 29 if the UK leaves the EU whether or not there is a deal. We will no longer be EU citizens after that date. But if there is a deal and a transition period, we will keep the vast majority of our rights as EU citizens including free movement (but not political rights) during transition, and will then be covered by the rights negotiated under the Withdrawal Agreement post transition - but only in the countries where we live now.