Brexit deal a ‘double disaster’ for Brits in Germany, pressure group claims CC
While British Prime Minister Theresa May celebrated reaching a deal with the EU over Brexit, an anti-Brexit pressure group said it had betrayed Brits living in Germany and the EU.
Photo: DPA
After months of fraught Brexit negotiations British Prime Minister Theresa May heralded an agreement with the European Commission on Friday that covered three thorny issues: the Irish border, the divorce settlement and citizens’ rights.
The “hard won” agreement allows the British government and Brussels to move Brexit negotiations onto trade talks.
The initial deal brought smiles to the face of May, who was probably in danger of losing her job if talks had broken down again, but left many British citizens living in Germany and other EU countries less than happy.
While the deal guarantees their rights to remain and work in Germany, the agreement does not guarantee them the right to continue moving freely around Europe, as is the case currently.
In the small print of the agreement it says the issue of freedom of movement was “outside the scope” of the initial negotiations, meaning the rights of Brits living in France to be able to move and work freely in other EU countries may depend on how trade negotiations go.
The pressure group British in Europe, which claims to represent the 1.2 million British citizens living in the EU, accused the government of “negotiating away our rights” and said “the deal was even worse than expected”.
British in Europe’s chair Jane Golding described it as a “double disaster”.
“This deal is even worse than we expected,” she said in a statement. “After 18 months of wrangling the UK and EU have sold 4.5 million people down the river in a grubby bargain that will have a severe impact on ordinary people’s ability to live their lives as we do now.”
“This is a double disaster for British people living in Europe. At the moment, not only is it unclear whether we keep our automatic residency rights, but it looks like we can also kiss goodbye to continuing free movement beyond any agreed transition period – which so many of us who work across Europe rely on to support our families.”
