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Brexit: Brits in France must start preparing for the worst

In June 2016 Brits living in France would never have imagined being in the situation they are now as "Brexit Day" approaches, but while many still hope for the best it's time to start preparing for the worst, argues Kalba Meadows, the coordinator of the Remain in France together campaign group.

Published: 21 September 2018 16:04 CEST

Brexit: Brits in France must start preparing for the worst

Photo: Deposit photos

As we inch inexorably closer to 29th March 2019 and watch in despair the seeming inability of the UK to move towards agreement with the EU, the talk of Brits living in France is unsurprisingly turning to this question: what happens to us if there’s no deal?

I doubt there’s a single one of us who seriously considered, in June 2016, that we’d be in this situation; who could even imagine that our rights – citizens’ rights … human rights – could be the collateral damage of Brexit? But here we are, and while we’re all still hoping (and many of us are working) for the best, we have to start preparing for the worst. In this article and the next, we’ll look at what a ‘no deal’ scenario means for us, and how we can put ourselves in the best possible situation should the worst happen.

Where are we now?

There are several possible scenarios in the relationship between the UK and the EU and hence to our citizens' rights.

Scenario 1. The current Withdrawal Agreement is agreed by both EU and UK before 29 March 2019

A bit of a curate's egg. Many of our current rights would be retained (details here if you haven't yet caught up), but in our host country only. Other rights are omitted, continuing free movement across the EU27 being the most important. But there would be a transition period of 21 months, up to 31 December 2020, during which all our current rights would remain unchanged.

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Scenario 2. There is no ratified Withdrawal Agreement, but the UK and the EU both agree to honour the clauses on citizens' rights so that they form a legally binding treaty (‘ring-fencing’)

The best of the ‘no deal ‘scenarios, but still subject to all the shortcomings in the Withdrawal Agreement, and effective from 30 March 2019 as there would be no transition period.

Scenario 3. No ratified Withdrawal Agreement, no ring-fencing, but France decides unilaterally to honour the rights contained in the citizens’ rights part

It would need to introduce new national legislation providing for a totally new status for already-resident British citizens which included the same or similar rights as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. There are already special régimes for certain populations – some Algerians, for instance. However (and it’s a big however), unilateral guarantees won’t fully work as many of the important issues – reciprocal health care for example – would have to be resolved reciprocally between the UK and the EU27.

Scenario 4: No Withdrawal Agreement, no ring-fencing, no unilateral arrangement.

This is the classic ‘no deal’ scenario. At 11pm CET on 29 March 2019, we would lose our status as European citizens and become third country nationals with no preserved rights. Our rights going forward would in no way be comparable to those that we hold at the moment and we’d have to fit into the existing framework for third country nationals in France, which is a complex mixture of EU directives and national legislation.

Some of the aspects of our rights in France that may be affected in the absence of other arrangements:

Our residence status. All our rights to reside as EU citizens would fall away with immediate effect and we would become third country nationals (TCNs) – non EU citizens, or étrangers – overnight.
Residence cards would be compulsory and applications would no longer be free.
Minimum income levels required for legal residence for those who aren't economically active could increase and even those who ARE economically active could be subject to minimum income.
Reciprocal health care. S1s and EHICs issued by the UK to S1 holders could cease to be valid; without other arrangements S1 holders would have to re-join the health system via PUMa. As TCNs a carte de séjour or carte de résidence is necessary to benefit from French health cover
The right to work. Third country nationals require a carte de séjour or carte de résidence to be able to work in France. Some jobs are only open to EU citizens and the right to work may be restrictive.
Cross-border working and living becomes very much more complicated; the same goes for self-employment/provision of services/recognition of professional qualifications.
Payment of private or personal pensions from the UK may be affected by the falling away of passporting rights.
UK driving licences would cease to be valid in the EU without an International Driving Permit.

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The worries of being a Brit in France as a no-deal Brexit looms large

This is all rather depressing and discouraging for us whose lives are on hold, but we think it’s better to know what we could be up against in a worst case scenario so that we can be prepared should the worst happen. Our group, Remain in France Together, along with the coalition organisation British in Europe (of which we’re a member), continue to put everything we have (plus a bit more!) into this ‘last mile’ of defending all the rights that we’ve enjoyed as proud Europeans. And who knows … Brexit may even yet be abandoned, in which case we get to breathe 1.2 million large sighs of relief and live happily ever after!

But just in case, in the next article for The Local we’ll give you some practical hints and tips of how to make some personal preparations for a no deal scenario.

You can read more about the implications of a no deal scenario for Brits in France here: https://www.remaininfrance.org/nodeal.html

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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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and Spain-based group EuroCitizens felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of British In Europe

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 4.7 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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