MEPs fighting for quick solution to problems of expats
The risk of the UK leaving with no deal has lessened since the election, says Catherine Bearder, a British Lib Dem who is part of an MEP taskforce set up to fight for expat rights in the lead up to Brexit.
“Mrs May hasn’t got the power now to pick up her papers and walk away,” she said.
She added: “I would like to see a cross-party grand committee doing the negotiations that reflect the electoral will of the UK people and that’s something the Lib Dems are calling for.”
UK chancellor Philip Hammond is thought to want a softer Brexit, which is “good news for all of us,” Ms Bearder said.
“There is also commitment from Michel Barnier [the EU’s chief negotiator] and Guy Verhofstadt [the EU’s chief negotiator] that we must deal with citizens first. It’s all due to start, but nobody knows the British position. I think they’re trying to decide what it is.”
She said she is asking for expat rights to be in a “stand alone” agreement but so far EU leaders have not committed to it.
“I think what they don’t want is to tie their hands for the final agreement, but it’s not beyond the wit of clever people to give certainty to people.”
Taskforce founder Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld said: “The situation in the UK is complicated and fragile. If you had set out to make a mess you couldn’t have done it better.
“The EU’s been ready for some time; it’s in the UK’s hands.”
It is unclear what is really meant by a “soft” or “hard” Brexit, she said. “If a soft Brexit is remaining in the internal market, fine, but that means free movement of people which nobody seems ready to accept.
“What is important is there is as little damage as possible, though there will be damage, on both sides. I don’t think the ‘new era’ that’s supposed to happen for the UK will ever come, but we’ll see, maybe I’m wrong.”
As for whether the UK might remain, she said this was “very speculative because there is no indication the British people are about to change their minds”.
“Let’s assume Brexit will indeed be Brexit. If not we’ll be in uncharted territory; we’ll see.
“As to citizens in the UK or Britons in the EU, this will have to be resolved as a first priority and we’ll be pushing for ringfencing so whatever is decided will have to apply even if no agreement is reached on anything else. Everybody says ‘citizens are very important’, but it seems to me the Commission and member state governments think it’s quite convenient to keep a card up their sleeve.”
The Financial Times said UK officials told them the UK will offer to guarantee EU27 expats’ current rights. The Brexit Ministry did not confirm this to Connexion, but said ‘resolving’ the expat issue is the first priority.
Ms in ‘t Veld said another hearing on expat rights will be organised by the parliament’s LIBE (civil liberties) committee in September, following the one held in May. There will also be debates about the negotiations, with the parliament aiming to make a new resolution on expat rights to add to its overall ‘red lines on Brexit negotiations’ one.
Ms in ‘t Veld said she believes Guy Verhofstadt hopes to ‘clinch a deal’ soon so a resolution can be passed in September.
The taskforce is still awaiting an answer from the Commission to a query about problems with the issue of residence cards to Britons in countries like France.
