House of Lords Report on Citizens' Rights

Following oral evidence sessions with citizens’ rights experts on 25 May in which our Co-Chair, Jane Golding, gave evidence and the following submission of written evidence by BiE and other groups, the House of Lords European Affairs Committee has published a report of Citizens’ Rights as part of its inquiry on the topic. Jane’s oral evidence and BiE’s written evidence are quoted extensively in the report. Jane spoke alongside Michaela Benson (Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London) and Sue Wilson (Chair at Bremain in Spain) while Monique Hawkins (the3million) represented EU nationals in the UK.

In particular, the report upfront expresses concerns about the areas that we had highlighted as not being covered by the Withdrawal Agreement or remedied by the TCA: the lack of EU-wide onward movement for UK citizens in the EU and of interlinked rights such as EU-wide recognition of qualifications, and made recommendations on both.

Our evidence also informed a number of the recommendations on the rights of UK citizens in the EU as regards implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement in EU countries, including progress so far, issuing of physical documentation and the lack of clarity on late applications, communications issues especially in relation to vulnerable and highly integrated groups, and monitoring by the EU Commission.

Finally, the report took on board our evidence concerning the effect of UK-EU relations on citizens’ rights, the limited geographic coverage of the UK Nationals Support Fund, as well as general concerns raised about the level of support provided by the UK Government to UK citizens abroad, and urged it to do all it can to maintain and develop trust with our community.

PUBLISHED: July 23, 2021