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The Local’s view: Most Brits in Europe didn’t ask for Brexit, but now we have to make it work

The EU has given hundreds of thousands of Brits the chance to build lives abroad. Most Brits in Europe didn't choose Brexit, but now it's happening we have an important choice to make, writes The Local's James Savage.

The Local's view: Most Brits in Europe didn't ask for Brexit, but now we have to make it work
The Local runs news sites in nine European countries. Photo: AFP

The British MEPs – many of whom were only elected in May – are packing their bags in Brussels for the last time. British ministers have attended their last European Council meetings. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has signed the document ratifying Britain's exit from the EU. 

And on Friday night Big Ben will (much to the frustration of some pro-Brexit MPs) witness the end of 47 years of British membership of the European project in silence.

If Britain ever rejoins, it will be many years in the future and on very different terms. Every sign is that the immediate future relationship between Britain and the EU will be a far looser relationship than Norway or even Switzerland currently have. Free movement won't be a part of it.

If you, like me, are a Brit who made your home in another EU country it's a strange feeling.

I hopped on a train to Paris at 22, got a job, fell in love with a Swede and eventually settled in Sweden. Others have moved for work, to retire, to study – or like me, just on a whim – and many have stayed. When my nieces in England are 22, many of those opportunities will be closed to them. But for too many Britons, the idea of living in another country – especially one where the language isn't English – is entirely alien.

Being an EU citizen in another EU country is a funny thing. Culturally you're an immigrant – a new language, a different culture, a frustratingly unfamiliar bureaucracy. Yet in an important sense you are there as of right, as a European citizen, not as a privilege.

For those of us already in an EU country that right is only partially protected after Brexit: we will be legal residents but not citizens, and we will lose our right to vote (in most countries) and stand for election in local, regional and European elections as well as onward freedom of movement to other European countries.

There are Brits living in the EU who welcome Brexit, and not only because they want to keep immigrants out of the UK (though some people with an underdeveloped sense of irony hold that view too).

But when we asked The Local's readers for your feelings ahead of Brexit Day, the overall sentiment was one of depression – the word 'devastated' came up again and again. 'Like a hangover that won't go away' was another comment. 

And your thoughts weren't primarily occupied by your own predicaments – many of you were more worried about the big picture: Britain's future, Europe's future and the future of friends and family left behind. 

The Brexit negotiations have been deeply unsettling for many Brits living in the EU, as they have for EU citizens in the UK. We've often been asked to trust politicians with a shaky grasp of our realities and sometimes an open disdain for our views. Theresa May's 'citizens of nowhere' jibe may not have been meant for us, but for some it felt like it.

Brexit has also engendered a venomous political debate that has seeped into our relationships with friends and family. We now live in a world where we either approve of or disdain the political opinions of people with whom we had never previously even discussed politics. Increased engagement in politics, we've learned, isn't always an unalloyed sign of progress.

But as withdrawal approaches these tensions have subsided a bit, as they must. As Brexit became inevitable, the subject moved further into the background at the Christmas dinner table. Choosing not to fight a culture war doesn't mean renouncing your views.

Thankfully most Brits living around the EU will be able to continue their lives as before, even if some important issues – such as the rights of those who work in different countries, the rights of people who don't meet various income requirements for residency and onward freedom of movement – remain unsolved. The Local will be watching these issues closely over the coming months and years.  

Indeed, if we're to play the glad game (and why not?), some genuine positives have come out of this process: more of us have reached out to fellow Brits in our communities across Europe and built deep and lasting bonds – something that's been palpable among the Brits who read The Local; more of us have become citizens in the countries in which we live, planting our masts firmly where we live, work and love; along with countless people in Britain we have reflected on what unites us as Europeans, not only what distinguishes us as Brits.

These don't compensate fully for the negatives, but they're worth recognizing.

Perhaps we've also reflected on divisions in British society, divisions reflected across Europe, that gave rise to Brexit in the first place. 

Britain enters a new world on Friday night, and so do Brits living in the EU. We might not have chosen this world, but we can choose how we relate to it. We should choose carefully.

 

James Savage is Publisher and co-founder of The Local Europe. You can follow him on Twitter @SavLocal

 

Member comments

  1. I am disappointed, although not surprised to see yet another biased article. I voted for Brexit because I absolutely disagree with how the EU is run. I could not in all good conscience vote for such an undemocratic, non-transparent, wasteful system. I do not agree with the economis sytems of the EU and I defintely do not agree with the Euro. It has crippled south european countries. There are too many EU policies that I find sinister and it is clear to anyone who wants to look that it is as good as a federation. Another United States. Well, we’ve seen how well they work and I did not want Britain to be part of that. I live in France simply because I could afford a house here without a mortgage. Simple. I have also lived in the Far East.

    Please note tnhat I believe Britian desperately needs immigration as we do not have enough people for certain jobs. Brexit was not about immigration for everyone and it is prejudicial to state it was the only reason for Brexit but typical of the media. How sad.

    I will not vote for something I disagree with.
    The world outside of the EU is much bigger than the EU. Let’s get on with working with the whole world and thank goodness we are getting our of the EU protectionist economics.

    Louise Rollason

  2. I totally agree with you, Louise. Couldn’t have put it better myself. Although I’m based in France, I still work for, and pay taxes in, the UK. I unfortunately couldn’t vote, as I’m an Italian citizen, and if I could, I would have voted against Brexit. I always hoped that the UK would have been able to help the EU get out of the bordello they’re in, by being in the EU. Too late now, GB has left. I wish the EU all the best, but I honestly don’t see the silver lining yet. Take care.

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EUROPEAN UNION

Why any deal between Switzerland and EU lies in the hands of the Swiss

The newly resumed round of negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union is now underway. But even if agreements are signed, stamped, and sealed, this doesn’t automatically mean they will go into effect.

Why any deal between Switzerland and EU lies in the hands of the Swiss

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Viola Amherd launched negotiations in Brussels on Monday on “a broad package of measures to deepen and expand the EU-Switzerland relationship”, the European Commission said in a statement. (Read more about what’s at stake, below).

“Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with Switzerland based on a renewed trust and engagement between partners and neighbours,” she added.

This is a positive development after Switzerland suddenly walked away from more than a decade of negotiations in May 2021 due to the EU’s refusal to budge on Swiss demands to exclude key issues relating to state aid, wage protections and freedom of movement. 

The move angered Brussels and strained the relationship between the two sides.

But after nearly three years of tiptoeing around each other, the two parties finally got back to business on Monday.

What does Bern hope to accomplish during the talks?

In a nutshell, these are some of the issues Switzerland will bring to the negotiating table:

Immigration

The majority (1.4 million)of foreign nationals living in — and still coming to — Switzerland are from EU states, so immigration is a hot-button topic.
Wage protection
“The objective of ensuring wage and working conditions by maintaining the current level of protection sustainably will be reaffirmed,” the government pointed out.

Electricity

Swiss government therefore wants to negotiate an agreement with the EU, in order to allow full access for Switzerland to the single market for electricity and “ensure cooperation in this sector with the EU in the future”.

Transport

In parallel with the opening  of international rail passenger transport, the Federal Council will seek to maintain Switzerland’s prerogative to allocate slots on its own territory.

“The controlled opening up of international rail transport must not affect the quality of public transport in Switzerland,” the government said. 

Swiss sovereignty

The government wants to ensure that Switzerland will always be able to decide autonomously whether or not it wishes to adopt European law.
Its direct-democracy system of referendums must also remain intact.
In the event of a dispute, Switzerland and the EU will be equally represented in an arbitration tribunal, which will have to decide.

READ ALSO: What is Switzerland’s deal with the EU?

If both sides agree on these, and other points that are being negtioted, when will new treaties come into effect?

It may take a while, but a better question to ask is: will these agreements be enforced at all?

That’s because when it comes to implementing new laws — regardless of whether they were hatched in Bern or in Brussels — the people will have the last, decisive, word.

Chalk it down to Switzerland’s famous, unique brand of grassroots (or direct) democracy.

Under this system, any new legislation to which any group of Swiss citizens opposes, will come to a referendum.

To do that on a federal level, opponents must collect 50,000 valid signatures within 100 days of the publication of the new legislation. The law will only come into force if it is accepted by a majority of the voters. (Only Swiss citizens over 18 can sign the petitions and vote in national referendums).

READ ALSO: How Switzerland’s direct democracy system works

Do Swiss citizens always vote against closer ties with the EU?

No.

In May 2000, for instance, 67.2 percent voted in favour of the first package of bilateral agreements with the European Union.

And in 2005, 56 percent of voters approved the extension of the agreement on the free movement of persons.

However, in terms of actually joining the EU, the voters have been overwhelmingly against this move.

In 1997 and 2001, more than 74 percent had rejected popular initiatives seeking EU membership.

What about the latest round of negotiations?

It is too early to say, but the opposition to any further links with Brussels is gaining momentum, especially among the right wing — historically a driving force against the EU.

The populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is speaking against “the EU submission treaty,” while its sister group, Pro Schweiz, has collected enough signatures to launch a vote on reinforcing Switzerland’s neutrality and, by extension, rejecting anything that smacks of cooperation with the European Union.

It is therefore certain that either or both groups will launch a referendum to stop the government from implementing any more pro-European policies.

This doesn’t mean however, that the Swiss, who are mostly a pragmatic lot, would reject the new agreements at the ballot box — since the majority had already accepted the treaties mentioned above.

Either way, Blick newspaper reported that “it is the Swiss people who will decide whether  the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the European Union will be finalised.” 

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