What About EU Nationals Residing in the UK?

Brexit is a long and tortuous process. One of the issues to be resolved before negotiations can proceed to the next stage, that of a treaty between the United Kingdom and the European Union, is the treatment of EU citizens who live in the United Kingdom, and the corresponding treatment of British citizens residing in the EU. Particularly the former, from one day to the next, have found themselves in a state of great uncertainty about their future, since their right to live in the host country depends on EU law, which will no longer apply to the United Kingdom, starting from 1 January 2021.

It is important to keep in mind that all citizens of the European Union enjoy important rights, including the right to free movement, the right to choose where to reside, to receive equal treatment with respect to the citizens of the host state, also in relation to welfare benefits, and the right to family reunification, also in relation to non-EU family members. These rights, however, are not absolute: they depend on whether a European migrant carries out an economic activity as an employee or in self-employment; alternatively, he/she must have health insurance and sufficient financial resources not to become a burden for the social security system of the host country. The UK-EU draft agreement on citizens' rights recognizes the continuity of rights for individuals and families who have unwillingly found themselves in the midst of the Brexit storm.

However, these rights are recognized only for those who satisfy the aforementioned conditions set by EU law for the right of residence in a host state. The problem raised by Brexit is not so much about protecting the rights of those citizens who moved before Brexit (which has been done), but rather that some of these people do not have the pre-requisites, especially concerning health insurance, that are required by EU law to take residence in another European state. And here lies the paradox of the European Union: citizens are often completely unaware of the existence of these conditions for residence (especially in the United Kingdom), because they bought into the lofty rhetoric of European institutions, according to which EU citizenship fundamentally entitles everyone to choose the country in which they want to live. These are exactly the people who are at risk of being denied the opportunity to continue living in the country where they were at the time of Brexit, and where they may have lived for very long. From this point of view, women are particularly exposed, because, statistically, they are the ones who most frequently have to leave the labor market, in order to take care of children, the disabled or the elderly. And when they leave the job market, they lose the protection of EU law unless they have bought private health insurance, and this does not happen very often. This therefore remains the fundamental issue to be addressed to ensure that Brexit has no negative side effects on the lives of either EU/UK citizens who, in good faith, moved to Great Britain/Europe to build a life there.