\n Five years on from the end of free movement, Britons living throughout Europe are still dealing with the consequences of Brexit. Fiona Godfrey, from British in Europe, tells The Local the battle to secure rights is still ongoing and that things could get more complicated.\n <\/p>\n
Five years ago, on December 31st 2020 the post-Brexit transition period came to an end and along with it free movement of people between the UK and EU countries.<\/p>\n
Whilst the rights of Britons to stay and work in Europe were safeguarded, many UK nationals who benefited from the Withdrawal Agreement have found them hard to secure and campaign group British in Europe says the battle to ensure no one loses out is still ongoing.<\/p>\n
“We still get cases every week and we are now seeing much more complex ones than they used to be, so we cannot say that Brexit is done. There is a long way to go before the full set of rights will be implemented,\u201d says Fiona Godfrey from the citizen’s’ rights campaign group British in Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrexit is something we will never get over, even if we have come to terms with it and the loss of our rights, and most of us have been able to access the withdrawal agreement rights. I think there’s still a sense of bereavement and the consequences will stay with us,\u201d Godfrey added.<\/p>\n
After Brexit came into effect UK citizens were required to apply for their new legal status in 13 EU countries and Norway (the constitutive countries). In another 13, plus Iceland and Switzerland (the declaratory countries), they had to register or just request the new documents when the old ones expired, while Ireland has different rules under the Common Travel Area.<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, British in Europe have carried out a project funded by the EU to \u201cInform, Connect, Empower (ICE)\u201d UK nationals in the EU, so they could understand how the withdrawal agreement was implemented in 11 countries \u2013 Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta and Sweden.<\/p>\n
Godfrey and other British in Europe volunteers had met for dinner at the start of the project and whilst they had come to terms with Brexit and the impact on their rights, they felt the need to act.<\/p>\n
“It was the first time we all came together in person and it was a special evening, really moving\u2026 We went round the room and asked people what had brought them to withdrawal agreement volunteering and everyone had a different reason\u2026 they just didn\u2019t want to sit back, and that\u2019s a feeling that stayed to this day,\u201d Godfrey concluded.<\/p>\n
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Confusion on immigration status<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to test whether people who had to apply for their new status had done so, also in declaratory countries, and if they experienced any issues, in particular on the upgrade to long-term residence , the role of absences, family reunification, social security and equal treatment,\u201d says British in Europe’s Godfrey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn constitutive countries, almost 90 per cent of people had applied for their status, which is good, but the 10 percent of people who didn\u2019t could spell bad news, although some may have not done so because they acquired an EU citizenship. In declaratory countries, 17 or 18 percent of Britons have not applied for the new card,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the whole, you could argue, it’s a success. But when you look at the declaratory countries, where there are big populations [of British nationals], such as Germany and Spain, it\u2019s potentially thousands of people who do not have a new withdrawal agreement card, so they could experience difficulties for instance when they travel outside of the Schengen zone under the EU’s new EES border system<\/a>,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Typical problems<\/b><\/p>\n While overall the implementation of the withdrawal agreement has been \u201crelatively smooth,\u201d it has not been the case in all countries, according to the final report of the project.<\/p>\n A key issue was the confusion between national or EU residence statuses, a problem often faced by non-EU citizens, the report says. For instance, people seeking to obtain EU long-term residence<\/a>, which grants rights across the EU, were \u201csteered towards national immigration statuses, with which the authorities are more familiar,\u201d the document explains.<\/p>\n In other cases, such as Sweden, the interpretation of the withdrawal agreement was \u201cvery strict and literal\u201d<\/a>, which \u201cdoes not reflect the spirit\u201d of the treaty, according to British in Europe. For other countries, the problem is a lack of resources, again reflecting situations already experienced by non-EU nationals.<\/p>\n READ ALSO:\u00a0More than 1,000 Brits ordered to leave Sweden since Brexit<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Different problems in each country<\/b><\/p>\n During the two-year project, British in Europe volunteers recorded 89 individual cases of problems associated with the implementation of the withdrawal agreement that were considered to be widespread among community.<\/p>\n The largest number was in Sweden (34), where issues were reported \u201cboth around in-time and late applications\u201d, as well as family reunification and the upgrade of residence status, Godfrey says.<\/p>\n Another country with several cases was Austria,<\/a> where there were issues of equal treatment related to access to social housing and the right to buy property.<\/p>\n