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Brits in Sweden ‘could stay for one year’ in event of no-deal Brexit

As British MPs vote on Tuesday on whether to back the prime minister's agreed deal for leaving the EU, Sweden has reportedly come up with a proposal on what to do in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Published: 15 January 2019 07:42 CET
Updated: 15 January 2019 15:22 CET
Brits in Sweden 'could stay for one year' in event of no-deal Brexit
Sweden's EU Minister Ann Linde speaking to press. File photo: Wiktor Nummelin / TT

The proposal would guarantee Brits already resident in Sweden a year in the country during which they could apply for permits to be allowed to stay.

Under the withdrawal agreement British MPs are voting on, Brits already living in Sweden, as well as those who move there before the end of the transition period on December 30th, 2020, would retain many of their current rights for the rest of their lives.

This includes the right to study in Sweden without paying third country fees, the right to work without a work permit, and the right to healthcare subsidized at the same level as for native Swedes.

But the deal is widely expected to be voted down. With no alternative having been outlined, and the date on which the UK is set to leave the EU fast approaching, this increases the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

This would directly impact the 20,000 Brits resident in Sweden without Swedish citizenship.

READ ALSO: How Brits in Sweden are (and aren't) preparing for Brexit

The Swedish government has put forward a regulation which would apply if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, according to Dagens Nyheter. It would allow those Brits already living in Sweden on March 29th to stay in the country and retain their existing rights for another year after that.

That would give them time to apply for any residence and work permits needed to remain in the country, and to ensure that they fulfill the requirements for these. Third-country applicants usually need to be outside the country when they apply for these permits, but that won't be the case for British citizens, a government representative told The Local.

“Brits living in Sweden won't need to leave Sweden in order to apply [for permits]. They will get a year, and will be able to apply from Sweden without needing to travel abroad,” Darina Agha, press secretary to the EU Minister, told The Local. “The whole point is to make things easier, as simple and convenient as possible for Brits to continue their lives here.”

She added that the government was also looking into the question of whether British driving licences would still be valid in a no-deal Brexit, but that this was not “one of the most acute issues at the moment”.

The proposal will now need to be referred for consultation, and would only come into effect in the event of a no-deal Brexit. “We still believe that it will be an orderly exit in some way. But in order to avoid chaos if that's not the case, we have to have this regulation,” EU Minister Ann Linde told Dagens Nyheter.

The EU has asked member states to take a “generous approach” to securing the rights of UK citizens living in their countries, provided such an approach is reciprocated by the UK.

Linde told The Local in November that a no-deal Brexit would mean “big changes” for Brits in Sweden, and advised Brits to go to authorities and find out what it would mean for their status. But in December, she said the government was working to ensure British citizens in Sweden could “live as before” immediately after any no-deal Brexit.

READ ALSO: Brits in Sweden should be able to 'live as before' in event of no-deal Brexit

Member comments

  1. I read this and follow, but should I worry. I have a Swedish pension, own property, a Swedish driving licence.. They told me many years ago, not to bother applying for my migrations verket permit any more. I do not see a problem. Any thoughts.

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For members

INSIDE SWEDEN

Inside Sweden: Why troll factory won’t spark a government crisis

The Local's editor Emma Löfgren rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter.

Published: 18 May 2024 09:22 CEST
Inside Sweden: Why troll factory won't spark a government crisis

Hej,

News that the Sweden Democrats are operating a far-right troll factory – which among other things the party uses to smear political opponents as well as its supposed allies – has caused probably the biggest rift yet between them and the three other parties that make up Sweden’s ruling coalition.

The leaders of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals all strongly criticised the Sweden Democrats’ blatant violation of the so-called “respect clause” in their Tidö collaboration agreement – the clause that states that the four parties should speak respectfully of each other in the media.

But after crisis talks held on Thursday, the conflict appears to be dying down.

The Sweden Democrats hit out strongly at the TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary where the troll factory was revealed, calling it a smear campaign and disinformation, but simultaneously went as far as to confirm that they do run anonymous social media accounts for which they refused to apologise.

They did say sorry to the Tidö parties for including them in the smear campaigns, and promised to remove some of the posts that had offended the other three parties, plus reassign a couple of members of staff to other duties until they’ve been given training on the Tidö “respect clause”.

But that doesn’t remove the fact that they vowed to continue the anonymous social media accounts whose existence they had prior to the documentary consistently denied, or the fact that some of the social media posts shared not only vague anti-immigration content, but white power propaganda.

The Liberals took the row the furthest, with Liberal leader Johan Pehrson describing people in his party as skitförbannade – pissed off as hell. He said ahead of the crisis meeting that they would demand that the Sweden Democrats cease all anonymous posting, which the latter rejected.

The party had two choices: walk out of the government collaboration and possibly spark a snap election, or walk back its strong words ahead of the meeting and wait for it to blow over.

They chose a kind of middle way, and called for an inquiry to be launched into banning political parties from operating anonymous social media accounts. The Social Democrats immediately accused the Liberals of trying to “bury the issue in an inquiry” – a classic Swedish political method of indecisive conflict avoidance which the Social Democrats themselves are well familiar with.

The Christian Democrats and Moderates both said that the Sweden Democrats had accepted their criticism and welcomed the party’s reshuffling of staff within its communications department, adding that it still had to prove its commitment to the Tidö agreement going forward.

So why isn’t this causing a bigger government crisis?

We asked Evelyn Jones, a politics reporter for the Dagens Nyheter daily, to come on the Sweden in Focus podcast to explain it to us:

“The Sweden Democrats are the biggest party in this coalition, even though they’re not part of the government. So the government really needs them. It’s hard for them to just stop cooperating with the Sweden Democrats,” she said.

“The cooperation between the government parties and the Sweden Democrats has been going pretty smoothly since the last election – more smoothly than a lot of people thought. This is probably the biggest crisis so far, but how big it is, is hard to say.”

You can listen to the full interview with her and the rest of the Sweden in Focus podcast here. 

In other news

If you are a descendant of a Sweden-born person and would like to find out more about them, there are ways to do that. I wrote this week about how to research your Swedish ancestry.

That guide was prompted by my interview with the chair of a community history group in a small parish in north-central Sweden, which has tried to get to the bottom of rumours that US mega star Taylor Swift’s ancestors hail from their village. I had so much fun writing this article.

The EU elections will be held on June 9th, but advance voting begins next week in Sweden. And poll cards are already being sent out, so if you’re eligible to vote you should receive yours soon.

Sweden’s consumer price index fell to 3.9 percent in April, below 4.0 percent for the first time in two years, reinforcing predictions that the central bank will keep lowering interest rates.

Sweden’s four-party government bloc has broken with the other parties in a parliamentary committee on public service broadcasting, adding what the opposition complains are “radically changed” proposals. How shocking are they?

Many people move to Sweden because of their partner’s career. Perhaps you’re one of these so-called “trailing spouses”. I’ve been asking readers in this situation how they’re settling in, and will have an article for you next week. There’s still time to answer our survey to share your experience.

Thanks for reading.

Have a good weekend,

Emma

Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It’s published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.

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