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BREXIT

Britain wants ‘new, deep and special’ partnership with Norway: ambassador

The UK will take several steps to maintain a strong post-Brexit relationship with Norway, writes British Ambassador to Norway Sarah Gillett.

Published: 9 October 2017 17:02 CEST
Britain wants 'new, deep and special' partnership with Norway: ambassador
British Ambassador to Norway Sarah Gillett. Photo: British Embassy Oslo

It has been a busy and interesting period since a majority of the British people voted to leave the European Union (EU), triggering one of the biggest changes in our continent for a generation.

Understanding the democratic decision, analysing its implications, and planning how to implement it, is an important and complex task. While it inevitably inspires a lot of questions about the future, many of the answers will take time because of the complexity.

The complexity also applies to Norway, which is not a member of the EU or its Customs Union, but is part of the EU Single Market through the European Economic Area (EEA). Norway also has separate agreements with the EU on agriculture and fisheries, and participates in the Schengen arrangements. Some 70 percent of Norway’s trade is with the EU, but the UK is Norway’s largest market, and Norway the UK’s most important energy supplier.

We will need new arrangements with Norway, but we cannot negotiate these whilst the UK is still a member of the EU. The UK both fully honours its obligations, and respects Norway’s. I believe that our track records in honouring the terms of our EU and EEA agreements respectively show each country takes its legal commitments very seriously.

To prepare for this new partnership, and enable a smooth transition, we are expanding the diplomatic dialogue and working together to understand each other’s priorities in order to be as well prepared as possible for the time when we will need to put new arrangements in place.

An important issue is how we provide certainty for the many thousands of Norwegian and British nationals who live on either side of the North Sea, and make such valuable contributions to our respective societies and economies.

Another priority is to minimise disruption for businesses, and provide investors with as much certainty and clarity as soon as we can.

After the fourth round of UK-EU negotiations, which took place shortly after Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech in Florence, the following points are governing British planning for the future: 

  • The UK’s decision to leave the institutions of the EU was because a majority of voters wanted more control over decisions affecting their lives. It was not a decision to withdraw from Europe, or disengage from the success of our continent. Britain has always, and will always, stand with friends and allies in defence of European security, stability, prosperity, and shared values.
  • The UK clearly understands that leaving the EU means that we cannot have all the benefits of membership, without accepting the obligations. Therefore the UK desire to control its immigration and other policies means we will be leaving the EU Single Market.
  • For the sake of our continent’s continuing prosperity and progress, the UK is proposing a unique and ambitious economic partnership. The starting point is over four decades of regulatory harmonisation, and a shared commitment to high standards and free trade.
  • The UK is the second largest economy in Europe. We will continue to be a major contributor to wealth and innovation. And we want to do so in close partnership with other European countries so that future generations of Europeans can fulfil their dreams and maximise the potential of our continent.
  • We will need to negotiate a new framework, and this is likely to be different from any other existing framework – including the EEA agreement.
  • Our unconditional commitment to European security remains just as strong. We have proposed a bold new strategic partnership with the EU, including an agreement on security, law enforcement and criminal justice.
  • The UK has reassured its EU partners that none of them will have to pay more, or receive less, during the present budget period, and that the UK will honour its commitments made during the period of our EU membership.
  • To transition to a new relationship in a smooth and orderly way, the UK has proposed a period of implementation. How long that period is should be determined simply by how long it will take to prepare and implement the new processes that will underpin our future partnership, but we expect it to last for around two years. 

The UK is optimistic about progress achieved so far in its negotiations with the EU, and is confident from being able to build a future as the EU’s strongest friend and partner. 

I am every bit as confident that the UK’s future relationship with Norway will be just as strong. 

Ms Sarah Gillett CMG CVO began her appointment as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Norway in July 2014. Ms Gillett joined the FCO in 1976 and has served overseas in the United States of America, France, Brazil, Canada, and most recently as Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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