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Parliamentary committee considers rights of expats under Brexit
| Published: | 4 May at 6 PM |
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A UK parliamentary committee has set out the difficulties to be faced by Brit expats living overseas should Brexit become a reality.
A report of the Parliamentary Committee meeting on the subject surfaced this morning, complete with warnings over the convoluted negotiations which would be necessary to determine the human rights of expats living in EU member states. The cross-party group stressed that validating the rights of the two million British citizens living in EU countries would be a ‘complex and daunting task’, calling it ‘one of the most important aspects of withdrawal negotiations.
Negotiations, the report added, would also take into account the position of the large number of EU citizens at present living in the UK. According to the committee, individual EU member states and the European Parliament itself could jeopardise the length of time negotiations could take, over and above the estimated two years.
As regards the necessity of revisiting trade deals between Britain and the EU, the task could take up to nine years, thus seriously affecting the UK’s economy. Although the government has decreed the result of the referendum vote will be considered as final and binding, the committee believes any decision to leave the EU is reversible, especially after a change in government.
In a development from last week’s High Court decision to disallow a judicial review of the Referendum Act 2015, lawyers for the plaintiffs have been granted the right to appeal.The appeal to Britain’s Supreme Court will be brought by 94-year old Harry Shindler and Belgian resident Jacquelyn MacLennan. The pair’s law firm, Leigh Day, announced yesterday that permission had been given to take the case to the Court of Appeal, adding that an expedited hearing should take place shortly.
Should the upcoming appeal against the High Court’s judgment be successful, it’s likely that expats at present banned from taking part in the referendum would give their vote to stay in the EU. The vast majority are elderly retirees who would find the uncertainty of their legal position after a Brexit stressful in the extreme and would dread returning to the UK after many years overseas.
A report of the Parliamentary Committee meeting on the subject surfaced this morning, complete with warnings over the convoluted negotiations which would be necessary to determine the human rights of expats living in EU member states. The cross-party group stressed that validating the rights of the two million British citizens living in EU countries would be a ‘complex and daunting task’, calling it ‘one of the most important aspects of withdrawal negotiations.
Negotiations, the report added, would also take into account the position of the large number of EU citizens at present living in the UK. According to the committee, individual EU member states and the European Parliament itself could jeopardise the length of time negotiations could take, over and above the estimated two years.
As regards the necessity of revisiting trade deals between Britain and the EU, the task could take up to nine years, thus seriously affecting the UK’s economy. Although the government has decreed the result of the referendum vote will be considered as final and binding, the committee believes any decision to leave the EU is reversible, especially after a change in government.
In a development from last week’s High Court decision to disallow a judicial review of the Referendum Act 2015, lawyers for the plaintiffs have been granted the right to appeal.The appeal to Britain’s Supreme Court will be brought by 94-year old Harry Shindler and Belgian resident Jacquelyn MacLennan. The pair’s law firm, Leigh Day, announced yesterday that permission had been given to take the case to the Court of Appeal, adding that an expedited hearing should take place shortly.
Should the upcoming appeal against the High Court’s judgment be successful, it’s likely that expats at present banned from taking part in the referendum would give their vote to stay in the EU. The vast majority are elderly retirees who would find the uncertainty of their legal position after a Brexit stressful in the extreme and would dread returning to the UK after many years overseas.
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