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Anti Brexit group tells EU MEPs expat lives matter
| Published: | 11 May at 6 PM |
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At a recent meeting, the 3million group, one of the major anti-Brexit expat groups, presented a briefing paper detailing its pre-Brexit demands to members of the European parliament and its Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt.
Before the meeting, co-chair of the group Anne-Laure Donskoy told the media they are pressing for an early, legally binding agreement which is totally separate from the mainstream Brexit negotiations. The agreement should contain guarantees of voting and citizens’ rights as well as registration. Donsky made it clear that EU expats’ rights to access healthcare and education as well as the rights to work, marry or start a business should be permanently guaranteed.
The group is totally opposed to discussions about the fate of expats caught up in Brexit being lumped together within the framework of the rest of the negotiations. It believes that including the expat issue in general negotiations will prolong the present unacceptable uncertainty felt by almost five million UK and EU citizens for at least another two years. The group is hoping to persuade the European Parliament to agree to a ring-fenced solution preserving and protecting citizens’ rights as individuals, even should a wider agreement on Brexit not be achieved.
It’s also urging the EU parliament to adopt a resolution setting out the key principles and guidelines regarding expats’ rights which should underpin a final agreement. A spokesperson for the group said the most important issue at present is that peoples’ lives do matter above and beyond any other considerations. It’s right, he said, that the issue should be dealt with swiftly and at a distance from the rest of the negotiations. All involved parties, he added, should agree that the present state of the UK’s registration process is not fit for the purpose and should be replaced by a simplified version allowing EU citizens to make claims to their rights, including the right to vote in their countries of residence.
Before the meeting, co-chair of the group Anne-Laure Donskoy told the media they are pressing for an early, legally binding agreement which is totally separate from the mainstream Brexit negotiations. The agreement should contain guarantees of voting and citizens’ rights as well as registration. Donsky made it clear that EU expats’ rights to access healthcare and education as well as the rights to work, marry or start a business should be permanently guaranteed.
The group is totally opposed to discussions about the fate of expats caught up in Brexit being lumped together within the framework of the rest of the negotiations. It believes that including the expat issue in general negotiations will prolong the present unacceptable uncertainty felt by almost five million UK and EU citizens for at least another two years. The group is hoping to persuade the European Parliament to agree to a ring-fenced solution preserving and protecting citizens’ rights as individuals, even should a wider agreement on Brexit not be achieved.
It’s also urging the EU parliament to adopt a resolution setting out the key principles and guidelines regarding expats’ rights which should underpin a final agreement. A spokesperson for the group said the most important issue at present is that peoples’ lives do matter above and beyond any other considerations. It’s right, he said, that the issue should be dealt with swiftly and at a distance from the rest of the negotiations. All involved parties, he added, should agree that the present state of the UK’s registration process is not fit for the purpose and should be replaced by a simplified version allowing EU citizens to make claims to their rights, including the right to vote in their countries of residence.
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