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‘Hiding under the duvet with a bottle of wine’: How Brits in Germany will mark Brexit day

On Friday the UK is set to leave the EU as Brexit finally happens. We asked how Britons will mark the occasion – if at all.

Published: 24 January 2020 17:02 CET
Updated: 27 January 2020 17:03 CET
'Hiding under the duvet with a bottle of wine': How Brits in Germany will mark Brexit day
The end of an era for the UK. Photo: DPA

Hiding under the duvet, heading to the pub or taking part in a demonstration – these are just some of the things Brits in Germany are planning when the UK officially leaves the EU at midnight on January 31st.

Megan Bray, 27, who's originally from Margate in England, is helping to organize a protest called 'leaving reluctantly' near the British Embassy in Berlin.

“We just wanted to give people the opportunity to express their grief,” Bray told The Local. “Some people are going to be wearing blue for the EU, others might be wearing black.”

Bray said it would give people a chance to come together.

“It's such a loss of opportunity and identity for so many people,” she added.

The protest takes place outside Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate from 4-7pm on Friday.

Bray, who moved to Berlin last March, added: “I think it is worrying, there's a lot of uncertainty. I feel very hopeful that I'll be able to stay in Germany but I think the loss of freedom of movement is really sad and limits everyone.”

In Osnabrück, a pro-European rally is taking place at 5pm at Rathausplatz, organized by Pulse for Europe.

And British in Germany is hosting a meetup at The Castle bar near Frankfurter Tor in Berlin from 8.15pm. 

READ ALSO: Brexit: What do Brits in Germany need to think about before January 31st?

When we asked our readers how they were celebrating, there was a mixed response, with the majority of people saying they weren't planning anything.

On the British in Germany Facebook page, lots of people shared how they were feeling with us.

Nigel Crowson said: “I will have mixed feelings, I've been stressed out since the 2016 vote thinking it might not be possible to stay in Germany, my home, so the idea of Brexit happening and having to return to UK and be homeless with little money scared the hell out of me.

READ ALSO: Explained: What you need to know about applying for German citizenship

“Now since our residency is guaranteed after the ratification on 31st I will celebrate that, but will mourn UK's turbulent future, the stupidity of the leaving, and her destroyed opportunity to better a united Europe.”

Proving that Britain leaving the EU is a very sad event for some, Antonia Epona said she'd be “at home here in Germany, hiding under a duvet with a bottle of wine, probably crying my heart out”.
 
A Pulse of Europe meeting in Osnabrück. Photo courtesy of Charmian Bilger
 
Lorraine Dormann said: “I’m going to send my German hubby to work, pull down the blinds, open a bottle of red wine, turn off the door bell, refuse to return any phone calls, turn off my internet and watch a film on Netflix. Probably after a bottle of wine, I’ll forget what day it is.”
 
'A toast to Europe'
 

For June Wayland, getting a German passport is on her mind. She said: “I will be in my German home, revising for my exam to become a German citizen.”
 
Marie Cartwright plans to mark Brexit by looking towards Europe. “For me January ends on 30th this year. That day (31st), which for me is non existent, will be spent packing the car and getting organized for a snowshoes walking holiday in the Alps.
 
“On February 1st I shall begin my day with a smile and a clinking of coffee cups with my German partner, proclaiming a toast to Europe and all it has given me over the past 40 years.”
 
Scot Gordon Guthrie in Berlin is planning a belated Burns Day (a Scottish celebration for the poet Robert Burns) event with a Brexit twist.
 
He said: “We have friends escaping Brexit Day in Bristol by visiting us, so we moved our Burns Supper to 'Brexit Day' and tacked on 'F*ck Brexit' as an afterthought. That kinda sums it up really. Brexit Day is just the day that the Brexit process finally begins, not the end of anything.”
 
Camilla Leathem is taking part in a cheery type of protest. She said: “My choir the British Embassy Singers is planning on doing a flash mob at the Brandenburg Gate at midnight.”

Andy Anderson said he plans to take his son to the zoo in Leipzig, and then head to a beer hall in the evening. And he was feeling more positive.

“Every cloud has a silver lining and to be honest I'm fed up with the doom and gloom which some Brits have descended into (needlessly in some cases),” he said.

“I think if you move abroad you take a risk and those who have moved, speak German, jobs and families are fine.”

Meanwhile, Lizzie Boland jokingly hoped that there would be some disruption.  “My mum is visiting from the UK and hoping she will be stuck here and not allowed back in the UK,” said Boland.

READ ALSO: Can Brits still move to Germany after Brexit day

For lots of people the aim is to ignore Brexit day completely.

Susan Ihle said she'd be doing “absolutely nothing. I don't see any reason to celebrate my EU Citizenship being snatched away”.

Adrian Wood said: “Absolutely no intention of marking the occasion. I firmly believed that as I intended to stay in Germany, I would not be personally affected.”

Patrick Donoghue said he plans to follow the media coverage “and then go to bed”.
 
“Will be neither celebrating nor mourning – I'll just be getting on with my life,” he said.
 
Kathrin Bennett said she'd be “feeling a mixture of sadness, anger and Schadenfreude“.
 

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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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