Key rights for Britons living in France are protected under the draft EU Brexit deal but other factors affecting Britons abroad in the EU continue to be in doubt.
One significant step forward is that the Senate has passed a bill giving the French government powers to make laws securing Britons’ residency rights, among other issues, in the case of a no-deal Brexit – although it requires the UK to treat French expats well.
The bill stresses the need for emergency laws as the rights of Britons to live, work and claim benefits here would all be lost in the event of a no-deal. It is set to be debated by MPs on December 10 before becoming law.
Olivier Cadic, senator for the French abroad, told colleagues: “Five million people [Britons in the EU and EU expats in UK] are living in great anxiety. This nightmare must cease. We must be flexible and pragmatic.”
The draft deal covers the right to an annually-uprated UK pension and for Britain to continue to pay for pensioners’ healthcare. It still faces the challenge of passing both the UK and EU parliaments.
Omissions include local and EU election voting and the right to freely move to, or work in, other EU countries. 1,715 British people who work in France as fonctionnaires including teachers also face losing their jobs.
A French Foreign Ministry source said the draft deal “changes everything”, adding: “The situation for British people here, and for the French in the UK, is sorted if we have this.”
The UK has said it wants to continue funding expat pensioners’ healthcare and participating in the EHIC scheme in the case of a no-deal but it has not issued specific contingency no-deal notes to help expats as it has on other subjects. It stated in July in a white paper on the future UK/EU relationship that it wants to continue pension uprating and aggregation sytems as part of reciprocal agreements.
The EU Commission has said with or without a deal it does not want tourist visas brought in for short stays (defined as 90 days in any 180 day period) for UK visitors.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the choice is between her agreed draft deal, no deal or no Brexit.
European Council president Donald Tusk said: “The EU is prepared for a final deal with the UK in November.
“We are also prepared for a no-deal but are best prepared for a no-Brexit scenario.”
The British in Europe (BiE) coalition of campaigners said the draft deal “fails to deliver the promise of a deal that would allow people to carry on living their lives in exactly the same manner as before”, notably because the continuing right to free movement to live and work across the EU is not protected as they had repeatedly requested.
Although the deal protects ‘frontier workers’, who live in France but travel daily to work in a neighbouring country, BiE says the loss of free movement will affect those who need flexibility to work in different countries.
An EU leaders’ summit is expected on November 25, at which the agreed draft deal would be formalised, if no states made major objections. A statement of aims for the UK/EU future relationship, to be attached to it, was being finalised.
The French Foreign Ministry source said: “There must be final checks that the interests of companies and citizens are properly preserved. In parallel, we continue to prepare for all hypotheses.”
Nothing is finalised about the formalities for Britons to benefit from the deal, the source said, but during the transition period until the end of 2020, “their rights would be fully preserved”, then “we’ll see when the time comes”.
In the meantime, he said, it remains advisable for British residents to obtain a carte de séjour, to prove they are living here according to EU rules.
“All the procedures that people can carry out now, in France, in advance, are a very good idea,” he said.
Speaking to senators examining the bill to allow the government to make laws in the case of no-deal, Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau said even “permanent residency” rights obtained by Britons living in France long-term would “disappear” in a no-deal.
But she said France would take intelligent measures and that “it’s in our interest to keep British people on our territory… but let’s see first what measures the British take before revealing ours”.
She also spoke of the 1,715 British fonctionnaires (civil servants), including school English teachers, saying non-EU citizens cannot be fonctionnaires. She said France would try to see how they could continue to work, such as by moving to different contracts. It was also possible and relatively simple for them to apply to be French, she said. It is likely in any event that they will be able to remain in their jobs during the transition period until 2021.
The ministry source said that, if necessary, specific measures arising from the no-deal bill will be worked out from January or February.
“The aim of the bill is to preserve, more or less, the same rights that Britons have now – in a spirit of reciprocity and parallelism with what is done in the UK for the French.”
He said: “It’s in the interest of the UK to give the best rights to Europeans and it’s in the best interests of France to give the best rights to the British.”
Speaking about Mrs Loiseau’s statement that permanent residency rights would disappear in a no-deal, he said the issue arises because there are two types of permanent residency rights: for EU citizens and non-EU citizens.
Government orders would permit France to sort out the status of British people who have been living in France for more than five years, and their families, he said. “They would in principle be eligible for a permanent residency card for a third-country resident.”
As for those resident for shorter periods, it remains to be worked out.
“But the objective is not to need visas,” he said. “The point would be to take measures to simplify everything and that everything should go well.”
He added: “Both sides have given assurances of their good intentions [towards expatriate citizens], but first our aim is to arrive at a good deal.”
British Community Committee of France chairman Christopher Chantrey said: “We’re relieved to have a deal rather than no-deal. It’s a safety net but it’s inadequate. It’s no better than what was announced a year ago and they’ve not plugged the holes we’ve been asking about.
“Uncertainty continues as it will have to be approved by the UK parliament, the EU27 and the European Parliament. It could still fail and the UK government could fall. We’re keeping our options open regarding a People’s Vote [a referendum, including a Remain option] and trying still, through the European parliament, to see if they can amend the text.
“We want to strengthen the provisions without undermining what’s been achieved so far. It has been underestimated in the UK as to the number of vulnerable people who are at risk, if there is no deal. Or indeed the professional people who are at risk if the deal is not improved.”
The chairwoman of BiE, Jane Golding called the exclusion of free movement “unacceptable”, saying it is “a lifeline for many of us”.
She said: “It is now up to the European Parliament to walk the talk on its red lines – free movement in our case – but also to put pressure on all sides to ring-fence the agreement on citizens’ rights so 4.6 million people can sleep at night, whatever happens on Brexit.”
Senator for the French abroad Olivier Cadic, who lives in Kent, said it might be hard for Theresa May to win support and no-deal cannot be excluded.
He is backing a referendum, in which he hopes EU citizens in the UK would be able to vote.
He said: “The people created the original decision, they must have the final say, but only once everything’s clear. For the moment, things could still change.”
