Boost for EU Green Card idea
The pro-EU group which champions an EU Green Card to protect rights of Britons in the EU and EU citizens in the UK says it is encouraged after the House of Lords called for EU citizens to have a physical proof of their status in Britain.
EU citizens living in the UK must apply for settled status to benefit from the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) but at present this is only shown on a website.
In an amendment to the WA Bill, the lords said a form of physical proof was needed. This was backed by MEPs in their recent rights resolution (seeThe UK is still part of our European family, say MEPs).
New Europeans (neweuropeans.net) said although this was later overturned by MPs, the vote “put down an important marker” and means the group can step up calls for an EU Green Card.
It proposes the same card be given to EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU, and it should protect the right of EU free movement of those who exercised their rights before Brexit.
Group founder Roger Casale said this idea was included in a rights manifesto for “the five million” – Britons in Europe and EU citizens in the UK – that it launched in Brussels recently, Courage Calls.
