Brexit and Britons in France - 03/2019 updates

British MPs will not get another chance to vote on the UK/EU Brexit deal until March 12, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.

Mrs May said this is to give more time for final discussions with European counterparts.

It comes as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said none of the other states would oppose Britain if it wanted to ask for an extension to avoid crashing out on March 29 with no deal.

At present, the UK is set to leave at midnight French time, with or without a deal.

In the meantime, the House of Commons was to debate and vote on alternative Brexit plans.

Conservative MP Alberto Costa is seeking cross-party support for ring-fencing of the expatriates’ rights part of the deal. Campaigners British In Europe are urging Britons to write to their UK MPs to ask them to support this. See the Brexit section of our website or britishineurope.org.

A group of 25 British MEPs has also called for ring-fencing.

Meanwhile, the European Com­mission has set out measures so young Britons taking part in Erasmus+ in a no-deal can complete their stays without interruption.

They also require EU states to continue to take into account periods of paying into a UK state pension before Brexit for purposes of EU pension aggregation.

MEP Jean Lambert said she hopes the measures go through quickly, but added: “It is really disappointing the EU27 haven’t found a common solution in relation to other rights, including those connected to freedom of movement for work purposes or voting rights in local elections.”

The EU Parliament had raised these issues, she said.

A bill to give the vote back to Britons who have lived overseas for more than 15 years moves to a final debate stage in the House of Commons on March 22, after it was put off from January 25.

The bill, first presented to Parliament in July 2017, will then go to the House of Lords.

A french barrister is taking a case to France’s highest administrative court hoping for a referral to the European Court of Justice on whether Britons’ EU citizenship continues after Brexit.

The case is the only one seeking a ruling on this before Brexit. Barrister Julien Fouchet is not charging fees.

There is a crowdfunding appeal at crowdjustice.com/case/dont-touch-my-european-citizenship. The aim is to avoid any expenses for the 10 Britons in France involved in the case (see the Brexit section of our website for more).

Several British state pensioners in France wrote to Connexion over problems with validity of their cartes vitales.

A senior social security official told Connexion that there will be no interruption in their cover after Brexit. In case of technical issues, you should visit your Cpam to resolve this.

We received many testimonies from pensioners about how important it is that there should be no interruption to cover.

We passed some edited and unidentified extracts to British in Europe to help in discussions with the British authorities on the importance of Britain continuing to fund their care.

Holders of British passports should note that in the case of a no-deal Brexit you will not be able to enter the Schengen area, including France, if the passport has less than six months to run on it.

If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added which will not count towards this. Check your passport is still valid for travel in a no-deal at passport.service.gov.uk/check-a-passport.

Meetings on Brexit and its impact on businesses are being held in France during March.

The dates are: March 5 at the Ester Limoges Technopole in Limoges, March 7 at the CCI Vienne in Poitiers, March 12 at the CCI Dordogne Pôle interconsulaire at Coulounieix-Chamiers, March 14 at CCI Lot-et-Garonne in Agen, and March 21 at CCI Bayonne in Bayonne.

Registration for these meetings is at tinyurl.com/yyrbam2o.