Brexit updates: Ehics, EU citizenship ruling, reaction to Brexit study

We look at some Brexit-related issues that could affect you and your life in France.

Letters CRA on your Ehics

Readers have asked why some British Ehics, used for healthcare when travelling in the EU, have the letters ‘CRA’ on them.

This relates to British Ehics (European Health Insurance Cards) issued since the end of the Brexit transition period.

Other UK cards issued since then are known as Ghics, for ‘Global Health Insurance Card’.

‘CRA Ehics’ show that the bearer benefits from the Citizens’ Rights Agreement section of the Withdrawal Agreement.

They are issued to UK S1 health form-holders – such as UK state pensioners living in France since before 2021 – and EU citizens in the UK.

They provide the same cover as a Ghic but can also be used in Norway, Iceland and Liechten­stein as well as the EU and Switzerland.

EU citizenship ruling June 9

Campaigners seeking a European Court of Justice ruling on whether Britons, especially residents in the EU since before Brexit, may be considered to have retained EU citizenship as an inalienable right, expect a ruling now on June 9.

The EU Britizens group hopes that the full court takes a more positive view than its Advocate General, who, at the start of this year, said he considered that they had lost their citizenship.

Read more: Setback for Briton fighting to maintain EU rights post Brexit

A letter from the group’s president Alice Bouilliez, seeking support from Euro­pean Parliament president Roberta Metsola, has in the meantime been registered as an official petition to the parliament under number 0385/2022.

Mrs Bouilliez said this came as a welcome surprise as she had sent it as a “bottle on the ocean” after disappointment at the Advocate General’s negative views and had not asked for it to become a formal petition.

Reader feedback on Brexit survey

Connexion readers shared mixed views after we published, online, details of a study into the effects of Brexit on British people living in the EU. For the full study click here.

Read more: ‘Embarrassed to be British’: Britons in the EU share views on Brexit

Read more: Your feedback on ‘Embarrassed to be British’ post-Brexit survey

The report, part of a project led by Lancaster and Birmingham universities, found Brexit had affected feelings towards the UK for most Britons in the EU with some expressing embarrassment.

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