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REMINDER: What the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement means for British citizens in Denmark

With increasing talk that London and Brussels might reach a new deal that would see Britain leave the EU at the end of October or after another extension, it's time for a reminder of what exactly the Withdrawal Agreement means for British residents in Denmark.

Published: 16 October 2019 17:57 CEST

REMINDER: What the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement means for British citizens in Denmark

Photo: DepositPhotos

It's been so long since the third rejection of the EU Withdrawal Bill by British MPs that most people have probably forgotten what it actually entails for British people living in Denmark.

But on Wednesday there is increasing confidence on both sides that the UK and the EU can reach a deal that will either see Britain leave the UK on October 31st or perhaps after a short extension to finalise negotiations.

While nothing has been agreed, signed or indeed even given the green light by the British parliament it's important to remember that the Citizens Rights part of the deal – the 50-odd page section that formed PART TWO of the Withdrawal Agreement – remains unchanged from when it was thrashed out a year ago.

So while we wait to see what Boris and Barnier will agree around the Northern Ireland backstop we know what's in store for Britons in Denmark.

And the good news is that the transition period, which basically keeps relations between the EU and the UK as they are now will immediately kick in when the UK leaves and run until December 2020, unless it is extended.

So people who want to move to an EU country but have not made the move yet can come here on the same terms as before until the end of December 2020. And Brits who want to move from one EU country to another can also do so as they would have done if they were EU citizens until the end of 2020.

This contrasts with a no-deal scenario when all such rights would end on Brexit day.

Here's a quick recap of what the Brexit deal will mean for British residents in Denmark. It’s worth noting that at the time of its agreement, campaigners from British in Europe described the Withdrawal Agreement as having “more holes than a piece of French Emmental” cheese.

If you are legally resident in an EU country then you will have the right to stay, albeit you will have to apply to authorities in order to secure this status.
The right to stay is not only guaranteed for those already living in the EU on Brexit day, but also those who come to the EU before the end of the transition period, which currently is 31st December 2020. Although there is a chance that the transition period could be extended even further. It was initially intended as a 21-month window in which the UK could organise bilateral deals or with the EU as a whole, but repeated Brexit delays mean it is now just over a year.
Under the Withdrawal Agreement Brits will only lose those rights if they spend five continuous years away from the EU country they are living in.
The current EU laws on the right of residence will apply, meaning Britons in the EU are not obliged to meet any conditions for the first three months of their stay, but after that they must be working or self-employed, self-sufficient or a student. Alternatively, they can be a family member of someone who meets these conditions.
Aggregation of social security contributions is agreed.
After five years of meeting these conditions then you will earn the right to stay permanently. Anyone with less than five years residence under their belts by the end of the transition period will be allowed to stay on under the same conditions until they can claim permanent residency.
Britons in the EU will enjoy the continued right to reciprocal healthcare.
EHIC health cards will also continue to cover travel across the EU during the transition period. What happens with them afterwards would be part of any future deals between Britain and EU countries.
Pensions will be uprated – meaning your UK state pension will be increased annually as it has been for those living in the UK or in the EU up to now and this continues for your lifetime.
Disability benefits will also be “exported” as they are now.
Frontier workers who live in one country and work in another will have the right to continue to work in each country.
Close family members including spouses, civil partners and dependent children will be able to join you living in an EU country if you are legally resident. British in Europe points out that: “This will apply for the whole of your lifetime. If you have children after the effective date they also are protected under the withdrawal agreement if you and the other parent are also protected or a national of the country you live in.”
The issue of qualifications being recognised in a country under a Brexit deal is one of the more confusing aspects of the Citizens Rights part of the WA. British in Europe sum it up by saying: “There is some agreement on recognition of professional qualifications – if you have an individual recognition decision re your qualification including through automatic recognition e.g. doctors, architects, your qualification will continue to be recognised but only in the country where the decision was issued.”

Citizens rights group British in Europe said of the deal when Theresa May first agreed it: “It's reasonable to say that for those who are happily settled in their country of residence, work solely in that country, have retired there or are pre-retired, have no wish or need to move to or work or study in another EU country, fulfil all the requirements for exercising treaty rights (see here) and don't rely on professional qualifications, then your rights should be covered.”

But it's not all plain sailing.

Residency permits will still have to be applied for if EU countries, as they are expected to do, introduce a “constitutive system”. That means criminal checks will be carried out on applicants as well as checks to make sure they meet the requirements legal residence. That might be a problem if residents don't have the resources to prove they are self-sufficient. Application must be submitted within six months of the end of the transition period (which based on the current end date for the transition period of December 31st 2020 would be June 30th, 2021). And it's only an application, there is no guarantee that all applications will be accepted. After Brexit countries could also adopt a “declaratory system”, meaning Brits won't have to apply for residency permits, but will have a choice whether to do so.
Freedom of movement ends once the UK leaves the EU, so as well as affecting people who arrive after the end of the transition period it also means people cannot move between countries. So if you have residency in Denmark, you cannot then move to Germany for work – for example – without going through the German immigration process.
The right to provide cross-border services as self-employed people.
As British in Europe states, “Some professional qualifications e.g. lawyers practising under their home titles and EU-wide licences and certificates are not covered, nor is recognition of qualifications outside the country of recognition/residence across the EU 27.”
If you hook up with a local while you're living in an EU country don't assume that they will be able to live with you in the UK after the end of the transition period, even if you are married.

And of course all this depends on the UK managing to settle the thorny issue of the Irish border, then Boris Johnson convincing MPs to back the deal he has negotiated.

For more information on the citizens’ rights part of the withdrawal agreement you can visit the British in Europe website.

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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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