Verhofstadt Comes Out In Favour Of Guaranteed Expat Post-Brexit Rights

As Brexit creeps nearer, a leading member of the European Parliament is demanding British expats in EU member states be given guaranteed rights along with their counterparts in the UK.

EU Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt has come out strongly in favour of protecting British expats in EU member states as well as EU citizens living and working in the UK by guaranteeing their full rights prior to any agreement being signed. In addition, he’s also prepared to support a scheme to give British expats associate EU citizenship.

The European parliament is expected to sign off on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on January 29, just two days before the UK’s planned departure, but Verhofstadt has told colleagues the long-awaited date isn’t ‘set in tablets of stone’. Whilst all those involved in the monumental shift in the UK’s world status are hoping the initial stages of the UK divorce will soon be completed, the Brexit coordinator has received many hundreds of emails and letters from UK expats in a panic about their 2020 status.

Speaking with the media earlier this week, the minister stressed the effect of Britain’s withdrawal on its expatriates in the EU has to be solved before the EU gives its final consent to the withdrawal agreement. He believes no citizens, whether of the UK or the EU member states, should be forced to become victims of the referendum result, and will be appealing to Johnson to ensure all those affected are given their full rights, especially as increasing numbers of Britons are now in favour of EU associate citizenship.