Future UK-EU Relationship Report

Future UK-EU Relationship Report

Having published the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 19 March 2018, the EU and the UK are now moving on to the detailed scoping of future relations with a view to reaching agreement on a political declaration on the framework for this future relationship in October 2018.

This will be agreed alongside the Article 50 withdrawal agreement and the agreement on the transition period. The European Council adopted its guidelines for the forthcoming negotiations in March.
An agreement reached on the UK’s future relationship with the EU will, by definition, be bespoke. The Committee acknowledges that the UK has an enormous amount to offer the EU as a third country and that it is in the interests of the UK and the EU to reach an agreement that will benefit both.

Date: 4 April 2018

Download the full report with conclusions HERE

You can also link to the Parliament UK web page on the report

Local Elections England 03 May 2018

Local Elections England 03 May 2018

Local elections will be held within England, with elections to all 32 London boroughs, 34 metropolitan boroughs, 68 district/borough councils and 17 unitary authorities. We would encourage our members to ensure that their friends and family and all EU citizens in the UK register to vote by April 17. In order to make our voices heard it is vitally important to vote in these Local Elections on 3 May 2018 and it is one way you can help in the fight to stop Brexit. Please go out and vote as you can make a difference

Below you can find some useful links and resources:

Electoral Commission information on the Local Elections and Mayoral Elections including how to register to vote. Click on the link below and then click on the 2 blue squares at the bottom of the page for all necessary information:

https://yourvotematters.co.uk/elections-in-may-201

If you are not sure which is the local authority you should vote in you can find out on the link below:

https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/register-to-vote/find-your-local-authority

For information on how to vote and the different ways of voting plus details of which Councils require ID click on the link below and then on one of the blue boxes at the bottom of the page, depending which is appropriate for you:

https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/how-do-i-vote

Information for students wishing to vote is shown on the link below:

https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/can-i-vote/students

Details of which Boroughs and Councils are holding local elections can be found on the link below.  It is very important that if you live in a Borough/Council where you can vote that you do so as these Local Elections are very important in our fight to stop Brexit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_local_elections,_2018

For information about the timetable for registering to vote and the deadlines for each way of voting etc click on the link below:

Election-timetable-LGEW-scheduled-elections

To find out where there is a good possibility of electing a pro-remain Borough/Council look at the information on the link below:

Local Council Elections 3 May 2018 Possible Anti-Brexit Control

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joint Nationality Campaign

Joint Nationality Campaign

You may already have heard of the Joint Nationality Campaign to persuade Spain to offer joint nationality to current UK residents in Spain. The campaign was launched in July 2016 by two British writers in Madrid, Giles Tremlett and William Chislett and already they have 21,000 signatures on change.org.

Bremain in Spain is pleased to be able to support this campaign as it moves into the next phase. A draft joint nationality law will be presented to the Spanish government in the coming months.

If there is no response, the campaign intends to take the issue to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, asking it to decide whether Spain has an enforceable obligation to offer joint nationality.

The campaign is therefore also seeking people who have applied for Spanish nationality, or obtained it recently, who would be prepared to join an eventual legal challenge (at no cost) should this become necessary. Those wishing to be kept up to date, or wanting to know more about how they might join the legal challenge can contact Giles Tremlett at jointnationality@gmail.com.

We wish Giles and William every success with the next phase of the campaign and hope that you will join us in supporting them.

Brexit Countdown: why remaining in Spain will be a massive pain after Brexit

Brexit Countdown: why remaining in Spain will be a massive pain after Brexit

One million Brits living in EU countries are today feeling abandoned by Theresa May.

Sue Wilson who heads Bremain in Spain representing 310,000 of them told Brexit Countdown: “We are in the dark as to where we stand.”
Brussels wants to restrict them to where they are now after Brexit so they won’t be allowed to move to another EU country.
Which means Brits abroad will have fewer rights than three million EU citizens living in the UK who can go to any of the other 27 EU member states.

Nothing the PM did with our EU partners at crunch European Council talks last week changed that.  And her UK tour this week to mark a year until Brexit on 29th March 2019 won’t help them either.

One in three Brits in Spain are retired. Those with jobs across the border in France face passport holdups after Brexit.
But don’t describe them as “expats” – they hate that. Sue adds: “We’re migrants, no different to EU citizens in the UK.”
“We’re not tourists. We don’t spend our lives on beaches or playing bowls or golf. We work, we raise children.”

Read full story in the Mirror…

Bremain at The Great Northern March #StopBrexit Leeds

Bremain at The Great Northern March #StopBrexit Leeds

Thousands took to the streets of Leeds for The Great Northern March to coincide with the one year anniversary of the triggering of Article 50 on Saturday 24th March 2018.

The #StopBrexit march, which set off from the Art Gallery in Victoria Gardens, was organised by Leeds for Europe and supported by Peter French and his team – organisers of the excellent Stop Brexit march in Manchester on 1 October last year and the massive Unite for Europe march in London in March 2017.

Speakers included:

 

SUE WILSON – Our own chair of Bremain in Spain, as well as a steering committee member of British in Europe.  She is passionate about fighting Brexit and protecting citizens rights, maintaining Freedom of Movement and many other political, economic and social rights that the EU grants to the citizens of its member states. Sue is well-known for her tireless work in defending the interests of the community she represents.

JONATHAN BARTLEY – CO-LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND AND WALES: Elected as joint Leader of the Green Party, alongside Caroline Lucas MP, in September 2016, Jonathan Bartley has a track record of being very vocal about his concerns over Brexit from a wide range of angles. Seeing beyond the illusion of it being a matter of foreign policy and sovereignty, he has joined others in pointing out that it is a direct attack on civil rights, workers rights and environmental protection.

LORD ADONIS: Andrew Adonis is one of the most outspoken critics of Brexit, which he famously described as a “dangerous, populist and nationalist spasm worthy of Donald Trump” and just a “big mistake”.  He is also known for his strong opposition to the EU Withdrawal Bill, which is due to end its journey through parliament around the time of the march, referring to it as “the worst legislation of my lifetime”.  He has in recent times been a relentless campaigner against Brexit.

ELOISE TODD: Eloise became the Chief Executive Officer of anti-Brexit campaign organisation, Best for Britain in January 2016.  Originally from East Yorkshire, having been born just outside Hull, she is highly concerned that her home turf will be among the places where the impact of Brexit will be felt the hardest.

PROFESSOR AC GRAYLING: Another utterly tireless and determined campaigner against Brexit, Anthony Grayling is well known to us in Leeds for Europe, having addressed an enthralled audience at our public meeting in May 2017.  We are delighted to welcome him back to Leeds.  He has written a number of books, the latest being “Democracy and Its Crisis”.

JOAN PONS LAPLANA: is a healthcare professional from Spain, who has dedicated himself to the NHS for over 17 years.  His  passionate appearances at numerous rallies over the past one and a half years have turned him into one of the most prominent spokesmen for EU citizens in the UK who readily identify with his experiences.

ELENA REMIGI: Elena is the founder and director of the Our Brexit Testimonies group and a co-editor of the book “In Limbo: Brexit Testimonies from EU Citizens in the UK”.  Since the book was published in June 2017, she has toured the country, speaking at workshops, protests and other events,  including an appearance at the Stop Brexit Manchester march at the Conservative Party Conference in October 2017 alongside her co-author Veronique Martin.

RICHARD CORBETT MEP: First elected as an MEP in 1996, he has represented Yorkshire & the Humber since 1999.  He is Leader of the Labour Members of the European Parliament, part of the centre-left Socialists & Democrats group.  Richard is also Vice Chair of the UK European Movement and also Chair in the European Parliament of the Labour Movement for Europe.

OFOC! (Our Future, Our Choice): Femi Oluwole, Lara Spirit, Will Dry, and Calum Millbank-Murphy spoke for the generation that will be most adversely affected by Brexit. .OFOC now has over a hundred leaders at universities across the UK, together with others mobilising young people in work, at school or in training to campaign against Brexit.

TOM BRUFFATO: Elected as Chair of Britain for Europe in February 2017. Unlike many political campaign and pressure groups, Britain for Europe is unique in being driven by its grassroots members, and steered by an elected council, and is not run from the top-down by a national executive.

LORD WALLACE OF SALTAIRE : In 1997 Wallace became a member of the Select Committee on the European Communities and Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Justice and Home Affairs 1997-2000. In 2001 he became the Liberal Democrats’ main frontbench spokesperson in the House of Lords on Foreign Affairs and in November 2004 was elected joint Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Peers.

DIRK HAZEL: LEADER OF THE ALLIANCE EPP: European People’s Party UK, also known as UK EPP, a pro-European Union, centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. It first contested an election at the 2014 European Parliament elections.

Video covering the full march including speeches. If you would like to hear Sue Wilson’s speech please start at 1:39.11

Short video of the march with a strong anti-Brexit message in the commentary.

And more from Bremain participating in other marches around the UK

In EXETER ….

…. In IPSWICH

In EDINBURGH ….

Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK & N Ireland from the EU

Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK & N Ireland from the EU

Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community – highlighting the progress made in the negotiation round with the UK of 16-19 March 2018.

European Commission, Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU.
Sent to the EU27 Member States, to the Brexit Steering Group of the European Parliament and published on the TF50 website on 19 March 2018.

 

Read the full draft agreement document below:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/draft-agreement-withdrawal-united-kingdom-great-britain-and-northern-ireland-european-union-and-european-atomic-energy-community-0_en