Tentative Brexit agreement gives two year window for Brit expatriation to EU

Last week’s tentative Brexit agreement gives would-be expats a two year window in which to complete their relocation without losing their rights.

In spite of the benefits of the agreement for those wishing to either come to the UK or leave the UK during the transition period, campaigners and expats themselves are still unhappy about what the agreement didn’t include – freedom of movement across all European Union member states as well as the cold, hard certainty that what’s been agreed will stay agreed.

Whatever the various reactions to the agreement are, it’s certain that the deadlock between the two negotiating teams has at least been cracked if not yet entirely broken. Another positive aspect is that Theresa May’s suggestion that EU citizens arriving during the transition period would not enjoy the rights granted to those who’d arrived before March 29 next year is now confined to history’s dustbin. A few more climbdowns by May in the near future may result in a final agreement which suits most if not all of those affected.

The major issue now is post-Brexit freedom of movement to expats already resident in EU member states, many of whom need to travel between their country of choice and other European states in order to do business. Nothing has as yet been agreed, but British in Europe chair Jane Golding has plenty to say on the issue, including that last weeks agreement does nothing to allow British expats any certainty over their futures.

The text of the document, she told the media, looks as if it’s been rushed out in a hurry, adding that Michel Barnier is still saying ‘nothing is agreed until everything’s agreed’. Golding interprets his words as meaning there’s no legal certainty for expats in both sectors until the day after the final signing off, and she’s now concentrating on the undeniable fact that, should freedom of movement not be granted, Britons may feel they’re landlocked in their present countries of residence.