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Brits in Denmark: Brexit could spell ‘disaster’

On June 23rd this year, the UK will become the first EU country to hold a referendum on whether to remain in the union. The Local spoke to four British citizens living in Denmark about their thoughts on the potential British EU exit - and what it might mean for them as European free movers.

Published: 18 March 2016 13:23 CET

Brits in Denmark: Brexit could spell ‘disaster’

Photo: Jeff Djevdet/Speed Property Buyers

Phillip Hay, 51. Chef. Originally from Hertfordshire. In Denmark since 1997.

How do you think Denmark will react if the UK leaves?

Denmark is watching, like other countries. I’m sure it will want to renegotiate, for example, welfare to Eastern European nationals. The Danes support Britain and are a bit Eurosceptic themselves. Maybe they’ll have their own referendum. Scepticism and nationalism rear their ugly heads when times are hard, but like with the UK, there’s no point in Denmark throwing the baby out with the bath water. Whatever happens though, I won’t go back. I love the lifestyle and the quality of life in Denmark and I have my partner and my kids here – that’s not going to change, whatever else does.

What concerns you about the potential exit?

It would be a disaster for European business, for our relationship with the rest of the EU. I don’t use the word ‘disaster’ lightly. I think it would be a huge own-goal. I know we pay a lot to be part of it but we get a lot back, we get modernisation, the lifestyle – people moan about rules that govern our pesticides and industry, for example, but it gives us a better lifestyle which benefits us all.

Why do you think so many Brits want to leave the EU?

I know there are problems. There should be more openness, more clarity. A lot of money is spent and we don’t know where it goes. But if we left, there could be retribution [from the EU], obstacles could be put up. And I’d accept that. You can’t sit at the table and eat if you’re not part of the family. In Denmark, there’s welfare in place to support me. Touch wood, I’ve never needed it, but I don’t see why we should deny other people that.

You’re referring to the argument that leaving the EU will save the UK money on social benefits payments to non-British EU nationals?

Yes, it works both ways. There are Brits on welfare here. We can’t complain about other nationalities doing it in the UK. People also want to feel like they’re limiting immigration. They’re annoyed about child benefits [being sent to other EU countries]. But we’re not unique in that respect. There’s just not a lot of compassion – but then again I’m an old socialist, so I would say that.

Mark Sedgwick, 55. Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Aarhus University. Originally from London. In Denmark since 2007.

Do you think Britain will leave the EU?

I think it will leave. Every time we’ve had a referendum involving the EU anywhere across Europe, the vote has gone towards nationalists. The Danish vote [on legal exemption from intrastate policing, ed.] in December and the Swiss minaret vote [in 2009] are examples of this. There are dozens of precedents. So if I was a betting man, that’s where I’d put my money.

Journalists and others tend to only talk to people who think about these issues in the same way as them. The so-called elites have lost touch with the population and the population doesn’t like it – so they will vote to reject the elites. People aren’t voting against free trade and I doubt they are particularly against regulation. They are certainly against immigration. I don’t know whether they’re voting against Pakistanis and accidentally rejecting the Poles, though.

How do you see the potential Brexit affecting Brits in Denmark?

Even as an EU citizen you don’t have the right to just wander in and live here. Non-EU and EU citizens have to basically follow the same rules – if you’ve got a contract of employment, you’re in. After five years, you’ve got residency. So for me, it wouldn’t have made any difference when I moved here [to take up a position at Aarhus University, ed.] and it wouldn’t make any difference now.

What about the Danish – and European – economy?

Britain will want to be part of the EEC but not the EU, so the question is what position the EU will take – they could make life as difficult as possible to discourage others, meaning Britain wouldn’t get EEC status. But I think this would be too disruptive. I think in the end, self-interest will mean they have to negotiate. So the question is how much difference will it really make? The EU is already ‘multi-speed’ – with some countries and not others in Schengen, in the Euro, in the EEC or EU. Britain leaving would be an extension of that.

Will you apply for Danish citizenship if Britain leaves?

I also have an Irish passport so no, but otherwise I would. Being an EU citizen in some other countries does give you other advantages – for example, if I wanted to send my children to university in the Netherlands, it makes enormous differences to the fees you pay.

Katie Benson, 31. Freelance writer. Originally from London. In Denmark since 2014.

Do you think Britain will actually leave the EU and why?

My hope is that there are enough sensible people in Britain to realise that we're better off as part of the EU, so I think it's unlikely that we will leave. I agree that the EU has plenty of flaws and needs reforming, but I think we're better off trying to effect change from the inside, rather than watching from the sidelines as everything falls apart.

In the event of Brexit, how do you think UK-Denmark relations might be affected?

I suspect that a Brexit would lead to closer ties between the UK and Denmark, as I get the impression that many Danes are also interested in leaving the EU and might call for their country to follow suit. The UK could become a poster child for going it alone.

How might it affect you as a Brit in DK? What concerns you most?

The biggest impact for me would be on my status as a resident. I imagine I'd have to apply for some sort of visa to live and work here, and that's a huge shame as I am naturally a strong supporter of freedom of movement. My largest concern about a Brexit is that I could easily see the current government rolling back EU regulations that affect environmental and agricultural policies. I don't want to see the UK sacrifice environmental progress for the sake of short-term economic gains.

If Britain does leave, would you apply for Danish citizenship?

Even though I have my ups and downs with how our country is run, I’m still proud to be British. I think I'd only apply for dual citizenship if it became a legal requirement for owning my home, as I'd like to think that I'll stay in Denmark for a few more years and it's lovely not having to spend a fortune on rent like I did in London.

Matthew Travers, 37. Teacher. Originally from Huddersfield. In Denmark since 2010.

How do you think Brexit would affect Denmark?

The only obvious thing to say is that it will impact negatively on business. A lot of British expats in Denmark are highly educated – they will no longer be vouchsafed by regulation. So it might be harder to find high level skilled workers, but only with regard to Brits. So perhaps that makes it less important unless you need native speakers for example, or financial sector workers.

How might it affect you?

I feel relatively safe. As a native English speaker teaching in an international school I think they’ll still want to keep me around, so even though I potentially won’t be protected by social welfare, hopefully I’ll be okay. I’ve never had to claim it yet. I want that on record!

How about Denmark-based Brits in general?

It depends on what you’re after. If you want to be in Denmark purely for the lifestyle, then you might have reason to be concerned with regard to residence permits. I’m here because the work’s here and I think that’s why they’d want to keep me, even if Britain flies off into space. But people can do entire degrees in other EU countries at ‘EU rates’ – to lose that would be really sad for British people.

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'I feel exiled': How Brits in Europe are locked abroad with foreign partners

Europe is home to hundreds of thousands of British nationals, many of whom have foreign partners and children. But if they want to move to the UK to live and work it will soon become more difficult.

When it comes to getting a partner visa, the UK has some of the strictest rules in Europe. In addition to hefty fees and a healthcare surcharge, the Home Office requires British citizens and long-term residents who bring their foreign partner to the UK to have a minimum income showing they can support them without relying on the social security system.

The minimum income up until now was set at £18,600 (€21,700), or £22,400 (€26,100) if the couple had one child, plus another £2,400 (€2,800) for each other child.

But these income requirements will rise steeply from April 11th 2024.

How it works: What Brits in Europe should know about UK’s new minimum income rules

From this date the minimum a British national or long-term resident will need to earn if they want to return home will increase to £29,000 (€33,800) and up to £38,000 (€44,313) by spring 2025, although there will no longer be an additional amount for accompanying children.

Alternatively, families need to prove they have at least £62,500 (€72,884) in cash, which from 11 April will increase to £88,500 (€103,207).

‘Family life has been destroyed’

To put this in context the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford suggests that around 50 percent of UK employees earn less than the £29,000 threshold and 70 percent less than £38,700. The Observatory also says that while the number of people affected by the policy is small compared to the overall UK immigration (family visas represent 5 percent of all entry visas), the impacts on concerned families can be “very significant”.

The Migration Observatory notes that other European countries apply income thresholds to sponsor foreign partners. Spain, for instance, requires sponsors to have an annual income equal to the social security salary. In Denmark, sponsors must not have claimed social benefits in the three years before the application. But in Spain and the US, the partner’s foreign income also counts towards the threshold.

So what does this mean for mixed British and international families living in Europe who might want or even need to return to the UK to live?

Campaigners have complained that many Britons with foreign partners have simply been “locked abroad” or families have been separated while they try to meet the minimum income or savings requirement.

Reunite Families UK, a non-profit organisation supporting people affected by the UK spouse visa rules, says this policy causes distress, especially for children.

Some 65 percent of respondents in research carried out by the group said that their child received a diagnosis of a mental health condition due to the separation of their parents.

“Since its introduction, this policy has destroyed the family life of countless people and children,” Matteo Besana, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager at Reunite Families UK said.

“Women have been forced to become single parents to their children and live away from their partner and the father of their children only because they didn’t meet the threshold.

“As shown by our research on the mental health impact of the policy, these are scars that, particularly for children, will be carried for the rest of their lives,” Besana said.

The people most likely to be affected are women, who tend to earn less or not work because they took on caring responsibilities. Also heavily impacted are people under 30 and over 50 years of age, people living outside London and the Southeast of England where wages are higher, and those belonging to specific ethnicities, according to the Migration Observatory.

The Local spoke to two British women, in Italy and Sweden, struggling to return to the UK with their families because of these rules.

More savings needed

Sarah Douglas, who has been living in Italy since 2007, was planning to return to Scotland with her Italian husband and three children.

“It was always our long-term goal to move back to the UK after we had our children and once we’d have saved enough to buy a home in the UK,” she said.

“In hindsight, we should have gone after the Brexit referendum, but in the beginning it wasn’t clear what the final deal would be and I naively assumed that situations like mine would be taken into account and we would have the right to return… Once it did become clear, we were in the middle of the pandemic and it wasn’t the time to move,” she said.

Having stayed home to take care of the children, Sarah will find it hard to land a job near her family in Scotland that meets the minimum income required to sponsor a foreign partner for a UK visa.

Her husband, a computer programmer, has been trying to get an employment visa, “but most of them state that you must already have permission to work in the UK,” Sarah says. And applying for British citizenship is not an option for a non-UK resident spouse.

‘People need to be aware’

Sarah and her husband are trying to save as much as they can, an alternative to the income requirement, but the amount they need is rising to almost £90,000, meaning it may be a long time before they have enough to move home.

While the aim of the UK’s policy is to ensure families moving to the UK are not a burden on the taxpayer, the reality is that people arriving on a family visa are not able to claim any benefits from the UK government.

“They should judge the overall financial viability of the family unit, rather than just the earning potential of the sponsoring partner,” Sarah says.

“We could live well with my husband’s salary and he could work remotely. We are stable and financially secure, but because I don’t earn any money, they say we are not able to support ourselves.”

Sarah says that most of the British public are unaware of the minimum income requirement.

“People think if you are married, your husband is allowed to come to the UK, but when I say no, it doesn’t work like that, they are really surprised. A lot of people are not aware of how this could affect them,” she said.

Looking for a job from abroad

Another British women who lives in Sweden with her South African husband and two children and plans to move to the UK told The Local how the minimum income requirement had put them in a “precarious and stressful situation”.

The woman, who preferred to remain anonymous said: “After having the two children, I was very fortunate to find a research position and do my PhD, which is a salaried position in Scandinavia, and now that I finished, we are looking to leave.

“But I need a job in the UK to sponsor my husband, and as a new graduate with limited work experience, it is not easy. It is even more difficult when you are not in the country and I missed out on opportunities because they wanted an immediate start. I really don’t want to move without my whole family,” she said.

She says the UK’s policy is “gendered and geographically discriminatory” because it makes life harder for women and also harder for anyone who is planning to move to a part of the country that isn’t in London, where salaries are higher.

“I feel exiled from my country and separated from my family there,” she said.

Her husband, she argues, has his own company and could continue working remotely from the UK, earning well above the requirement. He would also pay taxes and national insurance while having to pay the healthcare surcharge, a form of double taxation, she argues. But that would not entitle him to a visa.

“Our house is on the market now. We have booked removal companies for the 6th of June. The dog is booked for his transport. I just think this policy is so out of touch with the modern world,” she said.

Reunite Families UK has called on the government to recognise the right for British or settled citizens to bring their close family members to the UK and scrap the minimum income requirement. Alternatively, the group says the rules should take into consideration the earning potential of both partners and consider “the best interests of children”.

A petition on the UK parliament website asks the government to reconsider the minimum income policy. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, it will have to be debated in parliament.

This article has been produced by Europe Street news.

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