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BREXIT

Why we’re marching: Scores of Brits in France head to London to demand People’s Vote on Brexit

Scores of Britons are preparing to head across the Channel to join Saturday's march in London to demand a People's Vote on Brexit, while others will hold solidarity events in France. Kalba Meadows from Remain in France Together (RIFT) explains why Brits in the EU cannot stay silent.

Published: 20 October 2018 13:50 CEST
Why we're marching: Scores of Brits in France head to London to demand People's Vote on Brexit
The People's Vote March on Saturday. Photo: NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP

This Saturday, at least 200 Brits from France will be in London, joining hundreds of other British in Europe from across the EU27 and EU citizens living in the UK – plus (hopefully!) hundreds of thousands of others – at the People’s Vote March for the Future.

It’s a big ask for a Brit living in Europe to fly or drive across the Channel just for a few hours’ manif,  especially when for many of us it’s the third or even fourth time we’ve done it since June 2016. It takes time, it takes commitment, and it takes money.

So why are we doing it again? Simple. Because we can’t and won’t stay sitting down and silent when Brexit still threatens to remove some of our rights.

The march on 20 October is – like its predecessor in June – all about demanding a People’s Vote on Brexit: on the terms of any deal, and on whether the UK should simply remain in the EU instead (hmm – bit of a no-brainer for us, that one!).

But this time those of us travelling from France and elsewhere in the EU have another agenda too: we are coming together in a public show of solidarity with our friends the EU citizens who live in the UK.

The campaign and advocacy group British in Europe has worked hand in hand with our counterpart “the3million” for two years now, and our friendship and collaboration has been one of the few positives to come out of Brexit. We’ll be meeting and marching together as The 5 Million to celebrate that friendship as well as our shared European-ness.

If you’re watching the march on TV, look for a sea of white amongst the widespread blue and yellow … that’ll be us!

There is a more serious side too, of course: EU citizens living in the UK couldn’t vote in the referendum unless they were already British citizens, just as more than 60% of the estimated 4.9 million British people living abroad were barred from voting by the 15 year rule.

And that means that even if there is a People’s Vote it would need a change in the franchise for most of us to be able to take part.

Yet Brexit will fundamentally challenge the terms on which we currently living our lives. So we at British in Europe, alongside the3million, Final Say for All and EU Citizens' Champions, are marching to demand a place for EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU in any People’s Vote.

We are the people too. In fact together, we are 5 million people, and every one of us is 'one of the five million'.

Every one of us marching in London on Saturday takes with us in spirit another few hundred people who can’t be there in person. We’ll be there for all of you – please support us. Read on to find out how.

Photo: AFP

Solidarity events in France

Two events are being organised in France on Saturday 20 October by members of the campaign group Remain in France Together, one in Toulouse and another in Limoges. These are not marches or protests, but gatherings in solidarity with the London march. If you can get to either of these cities, please join in!

Toulouse, Capitol, from 11am until 2pm. Organiser Julie Hall says “In solidarity with the March for the People’s vote, we’ll be there to highlight the consequences of no vote. 350,000 French citizens living and working in the U.K. have been living in limbo for over 2 years.

We want to present their stories to Toulouse, inform, ask for support for the 5 million living in limbo and bring discussion about the people’s vote into France.”

Limoges, Jardin Champs Juillet from 10 am. Organiser Janette McLenahan says “We are gathering in solidarity, showing our support for the march for Europe. Some press will be there too. Bring a picnic and your own ideas for the day”.

The Last Mile citizens’ lobby

Our presence at the London march is part of a multi-part joint action over a 6 week period which we have termed The Last Mile. In spite of all the promises made by both sides of the negotiating table, our rights are still not sorted and there is very little time left to make a difference.

Most of us have been watching the rollercoaster events in the UK Parliament this week with our hearts in our mouths. Will there be a deal? Won’t there? And the question on our lips: where does all of this leave us?

Talk is in the air of unilateral agreements. 

Theresa May has said that she wants to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK even if there isn’t a deal. France is proposing to pass a decree that would open the way to protect at least some of the rights of British people living in France even if there were no deal. But promises don’t protect people – only properly binding treaties do that.

That’s why we’re asking both the EU and the UK to give us true peace of mind for the future, by protecting and guaranteeing our existing rights under international law using the Article 50 procedure.

In the next article I’ll tell you more about this and explain why we don’t believe that unilateral arrangements can be anything more than a last-ditch, all-else-has-failed solution. I’ll also tell you how you can take part in the Last Mile citizens’ lobby and do your bit to help properly secure your rights.

Kalba Meadows is citizens' rights coordinator of the group Remain in France Together, and a member of the steering committee of British in Europe.

 

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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

How will the new app for Europe’s EES border system work?

With Europe set to introduce its new Entry/Exit biometric border system (EES) in the autumn there has been much talk about the importance of a new app designed to help avoid delays. But how will it work and when will it be ready?

Published: 7 May 2024 10:29 CEST
How will the new app for Europe's EES border system work?

When it comes into force the EU’s new digital border system known as EES will register the millions of annual entries and exits of non-EU citizens travelling to the EU/Schengen area, which will cover 29 European countries.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), non-EU residents who do not require a visa will have to register their biometric data in a database that will also capture each time they cross an external Schengen border.

Passports will no longer be manually stamped, but will be scanned. However, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard when the non-EU traveller first crosses in to the EU/Schengen area.

Naturally there are concerns the extra time needed for this initial registration will cause long queues and tailbacks at the border.

To help alleviate those likely queues and prevent the subsequent frustration felt by travellers the EU is developing a new smartphone app.

READ ALSO: What will the EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The importance of having a working app was summed up by Uku Särekanno, Deputy Executive Director of the EU border agency Frontex in a recent interview.

“Initially, the challenge with the EES will come down to the fact that travellers arriving in Europe will have to have their biographic and biometric data registered in the system – border guards will have to register four of their fingerprints and their facial image. This process will take time, and every second really matters at border crossing points – nobody wants to be stuck in a lengthy queue after a long trip.”

But there is confusion around what the app will actually be able to do, if it will help avoid delays and importantly when will it be available?

So here’s what we know so far.

Who is developing the app?

The EU border agency Frontex is currently developing the app. More precisely, Frontex is developing the back-end part of the app, which will be made available to Schengen countries.

“Frontex is currently developing a prototype of an app that will help speed up this process and allow travellers to share some of the information in advance. This is something we are working on to support the member states, although there is no legal requirement for us to do so,” Uku Särekanno said in the interview.

Will the 29 EES countries be forced to use the app?

No, it is understood that Frontex will make the app available on a voluntary basis. Each government will then decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs.

This point emerged at a meeting of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, which is carrying out an inquiry on how EES will impact the UK.

What data will be registered via the app?

The Local asked the European Commission about this. A spokesperson however, said the Commission was not “in a position to disclose further information at this stage” but that travellers’ personal data “will be processed in compliance with the high data security and data protection standards set by EU legislation.”

According to the blog by Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP the Frontex app will collect passengers’ name, date of birth, passport number, planned destination and length of stay, reason for travelling, the amount of cash they carry, the availability of a credit card and of a travel health insurance. The app could also allow to take facial images. It will then generate a QR code that travellers can present at border control.

This, however, does not change the fact that fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing into the Schengen area.

So given the need to register finger prints and facial images with a border guard, the question is how and if the app will help avoid those border queues?

When is the app going to be available?

The answer to perhaps the most important question is still unclear.

The Commissions spokesperson told The Local that the app “will be made available for Schengen countries as from the Entry/Exit System start of operations.” The planned launch date is currently October 6th, but there have been several delays in the past and may be another one.

The UK parliamentary committee heard that the prototype of the app should have been ready for EU member states in spring. Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, said the app will not be available for testing until August “at best” and that the app will not be ready in time for October. The committee previously stated that the app might even be delayed until summer 2025.

Frontex’s Särekanno said in his interview: “Our aim is to have it ready by the end of the summer, so it can then be gradually integrated into national systems starting from early autumn”.

READ ALSO: How do the EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Can the system be launched if the app is not ready?

Yes. The European Commission told The Local that “the availability of the mobile application is not a condition for the Entry/Exit System entry into operation or functioning of the system. The app is only a tool for pre-registration of certain types of data and the system can operate without this pre-registration.”

In addition, “the integration of this app at national level is to be decided by each Schengen country on a voluntary basis – as there is no legal obligation to make use of the app.”

And the UK’s transport under secretary Guy Opperman sounded a note of caution saying the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

When the app will be in use, will it be mandatory for travellers?

There is no indication that the app will become mandatory for those non-EU travellers who need to register for EES. But there will probably be advantages in using it, such as getting access to faster lanes.

As a reminder, non-EU citizens who are resident in the EU are excluded from the EES, as are those with dual nationality for a country using EES. Irish nationals are also exempt even though Ireland will not be using EES because it is not in the Schengen area.

Has the app been tested anywhere yet?

Frontex says the prototype of the app will be tested at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, in Sweden. Matthias Monroy’s website said it was tested last year at Munich Airport in Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and Gibraltar.

According to the German Federal Police, the blog reports, passengers were satisfied and felt “prepared for border control”.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

 
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