The Independent: Initiative for UK citizens to be issued with EU passports

The Independent: Initiative for UK citizens to be issued with EU passports

Feb 13, 2017 | News

Initiative launched calling for UK citizens to be issued with EU passports after Brexit

If adopted the proposal would help UK citizens keep freedom of movements

 

The Independent – Jon Stone Political Correspondent – 13th February 2017
See the Full article in The independent

 

The European Commission is being asked to consider issuing EU passports to British people in danger of losing their right to free movement after Brexit.

The Commission will be forced to consider the proposal if a million EU citizens from across the bloc put their names to an EU citizens’ initiative backing the proposal.

European Union citizens’ initiatives were introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2012 to allow EU citizens to help shape the union’s policies through direct democracy.

Any initiative signed by one million EU citizens is considered by the European Commission, as long as signatories come from at least a quarter of member states, subject to a quota.

Several initiatives have previously resulted in the adoption of policy stances by the European Commission on subjects ranging from vivisection to water pollution.

Sue Wilson, one of the campaigners who has registered the EU passports’ initiative with the Commission said: “Whatever the result of the campaign, I hope – at the very least – that it will prove to all European governments how strongly we value our EU citizenship, and the lengths to which we are prepared to go to hold onto those rights and freedoms.”

Though only EU member states have the ability to confer citizenship, the European Commission has a limited ability to issue EU passports under regulation 1417/2013.

This power is currently only used for certain diplomats and officials but can be extended “on exceptional basis and upon due motivation, to special applicants”.

The Campaigners say the Commission should issue EU passports to British citizens who want to retain the European identity and right to live and work across borders after Britain leaves the bloc.

British citizens are likely to be stripped of the automatic right to live and work in EU countries after Britain leaves the bloc, causing disruption for millions of families.

Thousands of Brits eligible for dual citizenship – most notably of Ireland – are reportedly applying for foreign passports, with embassies across the continent reporting a surge in applications.

 

Read the Bremain in Spain Press Release HERE

UK citizens groups in the EU collaborate in aftermath of Alternative White Paper

UK citizens groups in the EU collaborate in aftermath of Alternative White Paper

Feb 9, 2017 | News

Bremain in Spain is one of an increasing number of groups representing UK citizens across the European Union. These groups are coming together to fight for their common cause – protecting the rights of their members.

Following their appearance at the House of Commons Select Committee for Exiting the European Union in January 2017, Debbie Williams (Brexpats – Hear our Voice), Gareth Horsfall (British in Italy), Christopher Chantrey (British Community Committee of France) and our own Sue Wilson have been increasingly working together for the common good. The 4 groups work alongside others representing UK citizens, and hold weekly conference calls to collaborate in the fight to protect our rights.

The most notable collaboration was last week’s Alternative White Paper, issued en masse to members of both Houses of Parliament. This was covered extensively by the media, both in the UK and across Europe. The Alternative White Paper was the biggest joint action to date by groups representing UK citizens in the EU. On Thursday 9th February, the action was followed up by the collective – i.e. emails from the heads of each group directly to the Department of Exiting the European Union.

The previous week, David Davis, the Secretary of State for the Department of Exiting the European Union, told the House of Commons that “we have engaged a range of stakeholders, including expatriate groups, to ensure we understand the priorities of UK nationals living in EU countries”. As not one of the groups can recall ever being contacted by Mr Davis, they decided that each group would write to his department pointing out this oversight on his part, and requesting a meeting.

The emails were sent en masse to an email address provided by the Ministry to deal with UK citizens from the EU: stakeholders@dexeu.gov.uk

Please feel free to follow our example and write to them too!

 

Bremain in Spain’s letter to Department for Exiting EU in full:

I am writing on behalf of Bremain in Spain, a group of 4200 UK citizens resident in Spain, for which I am the Chair. I recently presented written and oral evidence to the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee on behalf of my members, but also all UK citizens currently residing in Spain.  My group also collaborated with other UK citizens’ groups last week, to produce the Alternative White Paper.

As a collective of groups across Europe, we are now the largest group of UK residents in the European Union. All groups agree that the one million citizens in residence in the EU prior to Brexit should keep all existing rights, not just rights of residency. We need an agreement on this as soon as possible, with a similar arrangement for EU citizens already resident in the UK. Any agreement should be effective from the date that we leave the EU, and not before, as until then, we still have those rights. It should not be backdated to be effective from the date of the referendum, as this would adversely penalise those UK citizens that have already bought property and are currently in the process of moving to Europe.

We note that the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, told the House of Commons last week that “we have engaged a range of stakeholders, including expatriate groups, to ensure we understand the priorities of UK nationals living in EU countries“. We have not been approached, nor to my knowledge, have any of the other groups. Indeed, some of our groups have found it difficult to communicate with the department. We wish to be included in future consultations and would like to take this opportunity to ask department ministers to talk to us when they visit our countries of residence. We also request an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State in order to explain to him our concerns in person.

For more information on the Alternative White Paper:
https://www.bremaininspain.com/news/uk-citizens-europe-towards-alternative-white-paper/

Read the full Alternative White Paper document

For more information on our group please see our website:
https://www.bremaininspain.com/

I look forward to hearing from you in this regard, and to having the opportunity as a “stakeholder” of putting across the concerns of my members in person to the Secretary of State.

Yours sincerely

Sue Wilson
Chair – Bremain in Spain

Read the Bremain in Spain Press Release HERE

Choose Freedom

Choose Freedom

Feb 8, 2017 | Campaigns & Events, News

A European Passport could be the perfect solution for those threatened with the loss of EU Citizenship

The Choose Freedom Campaign is a European Citizens’ Initiative that is the brainchild of Glyn Hughes, 57 year old Engineering Designer from Derbyshire. The aim of the campaign is to persuade the European Union to issue EU passports to any EU citizens that are at risk of losing their rights and freedoms, in this case, as a result of Brexit. You do not have to be a UK Citizen or a resident of Spain to take part!

 

 

What is a European Citizens’ Initiative?

A European Citizens’ Initiative is an EU scheme that allows citizens to propose legislation, if they can garner the support of one million citizens across the European Union. To support an ECI at least 1 million signatures are needed, spread across at least 7 EU member countries. (Regulation 211/2011). Citizens’ Initiatives were first introduced with the Lisbon Treaty in 2012, as a way to empower citizens to deliver a better Europe. They have rarely been used up until now.

Glyn Hughes

EU Citizenship vs EU Passport

To date, there have been a number of schemes attempting to attain EU citizenship from the European Union. The main stumbling block is that only Nation states can issue Citizenship, so it is not within the power of the EU to do so. However, what the EU can do, is to issue EU passports, which would come with all the associated rights of citizenship. There already exists (Regulation 1417/2013) the ability for the EU to issue EU passports to diplomats and officials.

Citizens’ Initiative Basic Facts: http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/basic-facts

You can read the Bremain in Spain Official Press Release here

You can read the European Commission Official Press Release here

OeSD - laissez-passer
The EU Commission has agreed that this form of passport, known as “laissez-passer” can be extended “on exceptional basis and upon due motivation, to special applicants”.

The Commission has accepted that the Choose Freedom application is legally valid on this basis.

Voting rules

The rules for voting are fairly complex, and vary from country to country. UK citizens living in the EU will be governed by the rules of their country of residence. Some EU countries will give EU migrants the choice of voting in their country of citizenship or their country of residence.

However, a unique situation adversely effecting only citizens of the UK and Ireland, is that the rules of France, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Austria and Portugal prevent them from voting altogether if they are officially resident in those countries. If you are not an official resident, then you may vote in the country where you are an official resident. The European Commission has no control over these rules, as each country makes its own voting decisions.

View the table HERE, supplied by the EU, which tells you which country you need to vote in based on your Citizenship and Country of Residence.

Please read our FAQs

Can I Vote?

To qualify, you must be an EU Citizen (national of a member state), and must be old enough to vote in the European Parliament Elections, but you do not have to be registered to vote. Anyone denied the opportunity to vote due to the 15 year rule, can now have a say!

All voting will be done online, and all votes will be verified.

 

How do I Vote?

When you click on the Vote Now button below, it will take you to the European Citizens’ Initiative form. The first question you will be asked is to “Select Country“. Please choose the country where you are officially registered as a resident. You will then be asked for proof of identity and advised which documents are acceptable – this will vary from country to country. Next you will be asked to identify yourself, supply your date of birth, your Nationality, and in some cases, your address. The level of information required will depend on the regulations of each EU country. You will be asked to confirm that the information you have supplied is correct and that you have read the Privacy Statement re data protection.

All you need to do now is click on the Vote Now button.

 

What happens next?

Glyn Hughes (sponsor) and our own Sue Wilson (second) have up to a year to collect the one million votes required in the referendum. Once 1,000,000 votes have been collected then Glyn and Sue will meet with the European Commission in Brussels, before being invited to present at a public hearing in the European Parliament. The Commission would then have 3 months to decide on a course of action, and to explain their reasons for their decision.

VOTE NOW

“It’s such a shame that UK citizens living in the excluded countries, like France and Portugal, will be prevented from voting due to the rules of their country of residence. What we will be asking them to do is to get their friends, family and neighbours to vote on their behalf, hopefully in very large numbers. On the plus side, it is a huge bonus that the criteria for voting is based on age, and not on being registered to vote. For those living in Europe that have been denied the opportunity to vote due to the 15 year rule, this is fantastic news. Whatever the result of the campaign, I hope at the very least that it will prove to all European governments how strongly we value our EU citizenship, and the lengths that we are prepared to go to hold onto those rights and freedoms”.

Sue Wilson – Chair
Bremain in Spain

 

Legal information

The online referendum is to approve:
TITLE: European Free Movement Instrument
SUBJECT-MATTER: Guaranteeing European citizens free movement by a Universal Instrument
MAIN OBJECTIVES: For the better functioning of a free market, in the interest of the Union and in order to comply with the duty of care towards all its citizens, we beg the Commission to delineate a method by which all Europeans of good standing may be granted a signal and permanent instrument of their status and of their right to free movement throughout the Union by way of a unified document of laissez-passer as permitted by Article (4) of Council Regulation 1417/2013, or by another method
PROVISIONS OF THE TREATIES:
Article 45, 48, 57, 77, 78, 79 of the (Consolidated) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Articles 2(2), 17, 39, 42 and 63a of the Treaty of Lisbon (2007)
Article 1 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)

 

VOTE NOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZv0d9bAY0

In the Press:

The Independent 13th February 2017
Initiative launched calling for UK citizens to be issued with EU passports after Brexit

The Local.es 14th February 2017
‘Choose Freedom’: EU passport campaign launched across Europe

The Olive Press 14th February 2017
Expat campaign group Bremain In Spain demands EU passports for Brits post-Brexit

Bremain in Spain Spreads its Message in the Media

Bremain in Spain Spreads its Message in the Media

Feb 3, 2017 | Articles

Bremain in Spain is gaining ground in the media, with recent coverage from radio channels, TV stations and print publications mushrooming throughout the UK, Europe and worldwide. The message advocated by Bremain in Spain – that the rights of UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK must be protected, instead of using them as bargaining chips – is increasingly reaching a receptive audience.

The level of coverage increased phenomenally after four Bremain in Spain members appeared in The Guardian and then group Chair, Sue Wilson, appeared in front of the Select Committee for Exiting the European Union on 18 January, to discuss the rights of UK citizens living in Spain – and especially pensioners who are reliant on reciprocal healthcare agreements. The Select Committee session was shown as live footage on BBC Parliament TV, where it was viewed by many journalists and editors.

Sue was then interviewed by Spain’s ‘Cadena Ser Radio’s show Hoy por Hoy’, ‘BBC Radio 4’, ‘LBC’ and ‘Talk Radio Europe’: the latter aired 20 minutes of Sue discussing citizen’s rights, pensions, healthcare and other key concerns.

Press coverage in Spain has appeared in ‘The Local.es’, ‘Sur’, ‘Majorca Daily’, ‘The Olive Press’ and ‘Costa News’. Bremain has also appeared in the ‘Irish Times’ and ‘France 24’, which ran a satirical picture by artist-activist and Bremain member, Madelina Kay, depicting her version of UKIP’s infamous “Breaking Point” poster.

Other news stories have appeared in ‘The Asian Age’, ‘World Breaking News’ and ‘Gulf News’, as well as information portals including ‘iExpats’, ‘Expats Forum’ and ‘Health Insurance Daily’.  A blog entry from Argentinian investigative journalist, Rodolfo Walsh, quoted Sue Wilson.

Meanwhile, some Bremain members have been filmed for documentaries. China Global Television Network (CGTN) recently filmed Sue Wilson and Karen Watling in the Valencian Community region, while approaches have been made from ITV and Associated Press to interview members.

At the time of writing, many other articles and news stories are in the pipeline. Bremain in Spain has also seen requests for membership of its Facebook group page increase exponentially since January 2017. Further success stories will be coming soon.

Media Coverage: Brexit ‘Alternative White Paper’

Media Coverage: Brexit ‘Alternative White Paper’

Feb 2, 2017 | News

Today’s release of UK Citizens in Europe: Towards an Alternative White Paper on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill was met with immediate press coverage. As the media gets time to digest the Government’s White Paper, and look at the detail of the ‘Alternative’ – links will be added below:

 

Olive Press – Spain (2nd Feb 2017)
“British expat group publishes alternative white paper on government Brexit negotiations”
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2017/02/02/british-expat-group-publishes-alternative-white-paper-government-brexit-negotiations/

The Guardian (2nd Feb 2017)
“Alternative white paper by Britons in EU says rights must be protected”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/02/alternative-white-paper-britons-eu-rights-protected