UK should act now to safeguard expats’ rights, MPs say

The government must act unilaterally to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in the UK says a report by a cross-party committee of British MPs charged with scrutinising the Brexit process.

The MPs, who backed the report unanimously, also said the UK government should seek to ensure that UK nationals in other EU countries do not lose rights in key areas including healthcare and pensions and said clarifications on residence rights of expats on both sides could not wait for another two years.

This comes as amendments to the Brexit Bill are debated again in the House of Lords tomorrow before the bill goes back to the House of Commons next week. The Lords have already amended it to offer unilateral guarantees for rights of EU citizens ‘legally resident’ in the UK - the new report may now embolden some Conservative MPs who are reported to be considering ‘rebelling’ against the government’s instructions to vote amendments down.

Labour’s Hilary Benn, who chairs the Exiting the EU Select Committee, said the result of the EU referendum, in which EU citizens in the UK could not vote, had left them “under a cloud of uncertainty”, while Britons working and living on the continent were also “worried” about their rights.

Neither group wanted “to be used as bargaining chips” in the Brexit negotiations, he said.

The report finds that it would be “unconscionable” for either group not to have clarity about their status for another two years (the estimated time that the ‘divorce’ negotiations will take).

It was based on evidence including a hearing in January with representatives of groups for Britons in other EU states.

It does not, however highlight one point brought out on that occasion: that if the UK government wanted to, it could act unilaterally to promise continued pension uprating and – if necessary – to continue to pay for pensioners’ healthcare in other EU states, as it does now under the ‘S1 form’ system, before waiting for ‘reciprocal’ promises from the EU.

The report also looks at the rules surrounding ‘permanent residence’ rights in the UK, saying the process for EU citizens to apply for a card proving this is “disproportionally burdensome”.

In particular, with regard to the need to prove they had healthcare rights during their first five years – known as CSI: comprehensive sickness insurance – the fact of having had access to the NHS should suffice, the MPs say.

In the view of the MPs, EU citizens who have been in the UK for five years at the point when the UK leaves will “already have a right to remain”, and “the government should make clear that these individuals will be entitled to permanent residence”. They say the government should also clarify a cut-off point for moving to the UK after which people who have not yet reached five years will be allowed to stay and accrue this period.

The report findings include:

• Britons in the EU are especially concerned about their continuing access to healthcare on the same terms as now and, in setting out its negotiating position, the government should seek to ensure that no healthcare rights are lost.
• The government should seek continuation of reciprocal arrangements for pension uprating for Britons in the EU and EU citizens in Britain.
• The government should also clarify if it will seek to continue to cooperate on EU-wide mechanisms which allow ‘aggregation’ of pension contributions in different member states (these aim at making sure people who worked in two or more EU states do not end up with reduced old age pension income overall due to penalties for short periods in individual states).
• “As a minimum” Britons in the EU want guarantees that they will continue to have the right to stay in their chosen countries.
• The MPs “commend efforts” by expat groups to lobby the governments of their countries of residence to resolve questions around their status and “do not believe the electorates of Europe will thank politicians in any country if the situation is allowed to continue for another two years”.

You can read the full report here: Select committee report.

A spokesman for a coalition of campaign groups for rights of Britons in the EU, Dave Spokes, said they welcome the report, especially the recognition of the pensions and healthcare concerns, however they would now like to see the committee also consider further the many complex issues facing workers, whether employed or self-employed, to work, run a business or have qualifications recognised.

Another coalition member, Sue Wilson, noted that “these are only recommendations and we eagerly await a response, and some action, from the government”.

Mr Spokes added: “In fact, pensions, healthcare, and the rights of EU citizens in the UK are all within the gift of the UK government which does not need to seek approval from any other EU state.
“It is true that other states must each agree to retain the rights of UK citizens living there, but that is the basis of the reciprocity argument which means citizens are being used as bargaining chips.

“I always understood it was the first duty of government to support and secure its citizens. Using them as pawns in a negotiation is simply immoral and does our government no credit.
“I really don’t believe the EU states want all the Brits to leave. If the UK guarantees the security of their citizens in the UK, then it will be entering negotiations from the moral high ground.”