UK Expat Parents In EU Fear For Their Childrens Educational Freedom

The swathe of English language curriculum international schools across the expat world has helped relocating parents provide a steady stream of quality education for their offspring for decades.

One of the most important aspects of relocation for British parents is the availability of international-standard education from primary to university level. The advent of Brexit isn’t just threatening Britons’ right to stay in their chosen EU country, it’s also threatening the continuation of parental choice as regards a structured education for their kids. The prospect of their children being landlocked in their present country of residence and unable to move around the EU for study purposes is causing many expat parents genuine concern for their children’s educational prospects.

The one bright spot on the horizon depends on the findings of the Luxembourg court to which a recent case was referred for analysis and final judgement. Brought by British citizens living and working in the Netherlands, it hinges on the right to permanently retain European citizenship and its benefits for those who’ve been granted it as part of the UK’s EU membership. The legal argument is based on the wording of the Lisbon Treaty, in that ‘citizenship of the EU shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship’.

The primary argument of the Dutch state and the Municipality of Amsterdam sees the issue as political and the dispute a not being based on reality, even although the judge referred the case to the European Court of Justice for a final ruling on ‘additional citizenship’. Should the plaintiffs be successful and EU citizenship rights be acquired and non-negotiable, Brexit will have a totally different meaning for all UK expats in Europe as well as their families.

International family lawyers are seeing the ECJ hearing as crucially important, not just for UK expats and their children caught up in the entire Brexit issue, but as a protest against the denial of basic human rights by an increasing number of elected leaders in so-called civilised democracies who’re not just denying children’s human rights, they’re actually jeopardising them. According to a recent statement by UNICEF, negotiations, subsequent laws and all policies regarding Brexit should be made according to the United Nations Convention of the Right of the Child, ratified in 1991 by the UK.