The end of anxiety over citizens’ rights?
Last Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May released the working paper outlining the government’s stance on citizen’s rights for the ongoing withdrawal negotiations. Although there has been some negative reactions from Brussels, the paper comes close to what the EU is asking for.
UK Politics
By Megan Bente Bishop
The ongoing Brexit negotiations have no doubt been tense, especially when considering the delicate matter of citizen’s rights. Fortunately, the uncertainty felt by EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU is on its way to being resolved. The report released by the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), echoes Prime Minister Theresa May’s promise that ‘We won’t be seeing families split apart, people will be able to go on living their lives as before’. Although Chancellor Merkel has advised it is necessary to invest more work into the deal, the report comes close to what the EU has been asking for. All in all, the report highlights the common interests on both sides of the negotiations. However, EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU still are yet to be completely reassured, waiting for clarification of a specified date which determines their eligibility to stay, as well as waiting for the report to be ratified by Brussels.
The proposals show that, if the report is passed, not much is going to change at all. Until the UK’s exit, EU citizens will retain their rights set under EU treaties. However, when the UK leaves the EU, the government will have full control over levels of immigration and therefore could limit net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ target which they have so far failed to meet. Net migration is already decreasing; the ONS has reported a substantial increase in emigration from the UK, especially among EU citizens. Until then, levels of migration are likely to be determined when the final kinks in the report are ironed out. EU citizens who have been living in the UK for 5 years accrued before the specified date or cut-off date which is still to be determined,will be eligible to apply for ‘settled status’ giving them indefinite leave to remain, freedom to reside in any capacity, access to public funds and services, as well as the ability to apply for British Citizenship. EU citizens who have not yet built up 5 years permanent residence but arrived before the specified date may apply for temporary residence to accrue the necessary 5 years to qualify for settled status.
Settled EU citizens will continue to have access to UK benefits on the same basis as UK citizens. Those who are not eligible for settled status will have the same rights as they do now, equal access to benefits for workers and the self-employed, with limited access to out of work benefits. The existing rules on rights of EU citizens and UK nationals to export UK benefits will be protected and the UK state pension will continue to be exported and uprated within the EU. This means that for EU citizens who have lived in the UK and are eligible to apply for settled status, life may continue as normal. Also, this ensures stability for the 1.3 million British citizens living in Europe if their pensions may still be exported to them, primarily in Spain, Ireland and France.
The UK has also stated that it will seek to protect healthcare arrangements currently set out in EU social security coordination regulations and domestic UK law. This includes the ability of eligible individuals to carry a UK European Health Insurance Card before the specified date, allowing them to continue to benefit from free or reduced cost, needs-arising healthcare, which the UK has also stated an interest in maintaining with an ongoing arrangement in the future. Qualifying EU citizens will also continue to be eligible for Higher or Further Education student loans in line with those of UK citizens, as well as continuation of the home fee status and eligibility for support at least for students starting university in years 2017/18 and 2018/19. These proposals also highlight that while the UK remains a member of the EU, it is going be business-as-usual. After the process of Article 50 is formally completed and the UK has exited, when it comes to access to health and education for new arrivals, it is likely they will hold similar rights to migrants from non-EU countries today.
So far, so good. As long as the report is ratified by the EU, it appears that there will be little change for those EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK. However, there are still a few details which could create some uncertainty. The first being the specified date, which is yet to be determined. DExEU have stated this would be no earlier than March 29th 2017, the date in which Article 50 was triggered, and will be no later than March 2019 when the UK formally leaves the EU. This means that some may get caught, being unable to apply as a settled resident and so the specified date should be clear cut soon to allow EU citizens considering a move to the United Kingdom to plan accordingly. To somewhat combat this, and avoid a legal gap between the end of Freedom of Movement and when individuals must apply for immigration status, DExEU has pledged a grace period of up to 2 years which gives citizens the opportunity to accrue the 5 years necessary to be qualify as a settled citizen, as well as the ability to work and study before waiting for documents.
Yet a number of issues could also manifest as barriers in the ongoing negotiations, for example whether the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would hold jurisdiction over citizen’s rights, or whether there would be some form of arbitration court, as suggested by Brexit Secretary David Davis MP. Theresa May has stressed that the UK’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of EU citizens will be ‘enshrined in UK law and enforced through our highly respected courts’ whereas the EU demands that the ECJ have full jurisdiction over the withdrawal negotiations. With both the UK and the EU seeming unwilling to budge on this highly contentious issue, there runs a risk of negotiations breaking down.
A final deal may not be certain. However, even within areas where there is divergence between the two sides, the EU and the UK are within striking distance from one another. Compromise is needed from both sides, but EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens living in Europe can be cautiously optimistic and somewhat relieved about the certainty of their future as the UK leaves the union.
