Expat Brits Appeal to Remain EU Citizens after Brexit

Brits are fighting back in an attempt to retain their EU citizenship after Brexit was announced and the exit date starts to lean closer. On Thursday June 23rd, 2016 the UK had a vote on whether they should leave the EU or not. Everyone who is legal to vote was allowed to participate and nearly 71% of people legible to vote showed up.

After they finished counting the results, 51.8% of Britons voted that the UK should leave the EU and so came the start of Brexit: an acronym that was created meaning “Britain Exit” .

The EU eventually agreed to allow the UK to leave and Friday, March 29th, 2019 was set as the date on which everything will become official. In the meantime, the EU and UK has been busy negotiating the terms of the exit. Residents are, however, concerned about some of the negotiations with a number of things still in the grey, such as whether EU citizens will require a visa to visit the UK and if UK citizens will be able to retain their EU citizenship.

If Brits lose their EU citizenship it will mean that they won’t be able to travel freely over Europe anymore but rather, will most likely require a visa to enter the country. This might also pose a problem for Brits living in the EU as they will essentially be staying illegally in Europe.

A group of Britons living in the EU has decided to take things into their own hands and made great leeway.

They appealed to the Dutch government to guarantee their EU rights even after Brexit is finalised.

The Dutch judge, Floris Bakels, referred the case to the European Court of Justice. This is only the first step in ensuring the rights of Brits but it is a step in the right direction.

Jolyon Maugham, a Remain-backing British barrister who is behind a series of legal cases that are challenging Brexit in the UK funded and supported the case. The outcome of the case can have implications for almost a million British citizens living in Europe.