On 19
September five representatives of the British in Europe groups EuroCitizens and ECREU, together with the chair and vice-chair of Brexpats Spain, attended the British Embassy for a meeting
with Brexit Secretary of State, Stephen Barclay and a number of information
sessions by Embassy staff. The ambassador, Hugh Elliott was also present with
the minister.
This was
the first meeting of BiE groups in Spain at Secretary of State level and allowed us to put across our
key concerns both to officials and to the minister himself. The
meeting took place in a generally cordial atmosphere. The minister has an
additional channel of information on our concerns, as he told us, because he
has a brother and family living in Luxembourg.
Negotiations
Mr Barclay claimed that negotiations with EU were 'on-going and constructive'. He
appeared personally committed to a variant of the May Withdrawal Agreement,
with the contentious issues on Northern Ireland and the backstop removed. He
explained the lack of text proposals as driven from a fear of having them
destroyed by too much publicity. The prime concern remained the backstop.
Citizens' rights were not a focus of discussion within the Withdrawal
Agreement. He himself brought up ring-fencing (ie the Costa amendment) and
stated that the EU had rejected the proposal.
The Spanish Royal Decree
Both
sides agreed that this was a positive measure, but we voiced concerns on the
insistence on reciprocity and the lack of agreement about what it means. The minister said that the UK measures allowed
the same degree of protection for Spanish citizens in the UK. Subsequent press
reporting (e.g. El País 23 September) has called this affirmation into question with Foreign Minister Borrell threatening to remove the rights of UK residents if Britain does not respond to Spanish measures in kind. EuroCitizens/British in Europe and the3million responded to these declarations with a
joint press release outlining the issues and risks faced by both groups of citizens (Please Stop Using us as Bargaining Chips).The crucial issue of lack of reciprocity will need to be kept under review by EuroCitizens, as it is an evident threat to our rights.
Healthcare
The officials' presentation on healthcare was reassuring about the situation in
Spain, where there seems broad agreement on an extension until the end of 2020 to allow
further discussion. The alarming six-month extension press announcement coming thereafter from the UK government has been explained that this relates to those Member States where, unlike
Spain, nothing is agreed. Barclay appeared to endorse this healthcare position.
Pensions
The BiE groups raised the current proposal for continuing linkage to UK increases limited to 3
years. The minister explained that there would then be a review. We stressed
that this was unacceptable. Pensioners had an expectation of being able to
continue their lives without this sort of endless uncertainty and stress. They
were a finite group - those resident in Spain at the moment of Brexit - and so
would in any event be an ever shrinking group. A firm commitment was needed.
Other Citizens' Rights Issues
Given
the time available with the minister, and the need for all groups to have a say, BiE groups were only able to flag up a number of other issues such as the rights of
returnees, the problems in being called on to deal with elderly relatives,
etc. However, the Embassy did provide the assurance that the minister had been
fully briefed on all of them and so he is in fact aware of our concerns.
