SHARE
COPY LINK

BREXIT

What would no-deal Brexit mean for Brits in Italy? Here’s what we know so far

The Italian government has published a decree outlining its contingency plans in the event of the UK exiting the EU without a deal. Here's what Brits in Italy need to know.

What would no-deal Brexit mean for Brits in Italy? Here's what we know so far
Deal or no deal? Demonstrators outside the UK parliament in London. Photo: Niklas Halle'n/AFP

Published earlier this week, the decree sets out the bare bones of what British citizens resident in Italy can expect in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Its terms will apply only if the UK fails to reach any other agreement with the EU, and only from the date the UK actually withdraws.

READ ALSO: Cancel Brexit petition heads towards SIX MILLION signatures

You can find the full decree online here (in Italian); see articles 14, 15 and 17 for the sections on citizens' rights.

Here are the main provisions the decree makes for a no-deal scenario:

  • There will be a transition period until December 31st 2020, during which time all British residents will have the opportunity to apply for new, non-EU status. This grace period applies only to Brits who have already registered their residency with their local comune by the time the UK leaves the EU. (Here's a guide to how you can still register your residency before Brexit.)
     
  • Brits who have been legally resident in Italy for five consecutive years or more at the time of the UK's withdrawal will be allowed to apply for a permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo, or long-term residence permit.
     
  • Brits who have been legally resident for less than five consecutive years will be allowed to apply for a special permesso di soggiorno valid for five years, after which they'll have to apply to renew it.
     
  • Both types of residence permits will protect Brits' rights to work and access social benefits
     
  • Any British resident who hasn't obtained a new residence permit by the end of 2020 will be subject to the same rules as all other “third country” – i.e. non-EU – nationals. All current residence permits, including the certificato di residenza issued by the anagrafe (registry office), will become invalid on January 1st 2021.
     
  • Italy is willing to give British residents continued access to Italian public healthcare until the end of 2020, “on condition of reciprocity for Italian citizens” in the UK. 
     
  • British citizens who have accumulated four years of residency in Italy before the date when the UK leaves the EU can apply for Italian citizenship on the same terms as EU nationals until the end of 2020. 

The decree is only an outline, and more details are expected to follow. 

“Whilst it does provide for our legal residence in the transition period, it is not clear how our other rights during transition are affected,” Delia Dumaresq of the campaign group British in Italy told The Local. The group's committee has a meeting with Italian officials on Friday to seek further clarification.

READ ALSO: UK and Italy in talks on reciprocal healthcare in case of no-deal Brexit

The British embassy in Rome says that the UK and Italy are discussing a “bilateral and reciprocal deal on healthcare” for British and Italian nationals in the event of a no-deal. 

“Both sides have committed to cover healthcare,” a spokesperson told The Local.

Italy has previously promised to work with other EU members “to limit the negative consequences of Brexit, and in particular, to guarantee the rights of Italian citizens in the United Kingdom and British citizens in Italy, the stability of the markets, banking, insurance and financial sectors, and a withdrawal that is as orderly as possible in all other respects to protect citizens and businesses” – including in the “undesirable” scenario of a no-deal Brexit.

READ ALSO: EU deals blow to chances of ring-fencing rights of Britons in Europe


Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP
 

Member comments

  1. “All current residence permits, including the certificato di residenza issued by the anagrafe (registry office), will become invalid on January 1st 2021” Does this means the “Attestazione di soggiorno permanente” also becomes invalid?

  2. Msny thanks for the wonderfully informative articles you put out on Brexit and its implications. I have been a a passionate Leaver for some ten or more years and am infuriated at the denial of the referendum result that Remainers seem to assume is their right. It isn’t – they lost but won’t accept it. I will not continue on this path but will conclude by saying that I have lived and worked in Italy for over ten years (I now live in UK) and it is without a doubt my favourite country. Bureaucratically it is alarmingly awful but nevertheless I lived there pre-EU and hope to do so again so if there is a chance that The Local could investigate what is the best method of so doing should we leave the EU with a no deal and base it on people not living there at the moment that would be good. I realise this is not an immediate priority.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

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?

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.

 
SHOW COMMENTS