IT is accepted that the correct thing to do is to guarantee the residency rights of both EU and UK citizens currently living in respective countries. My concern, however, is that in our rush for the moral high ground in guaranteeing EU citizen rights in the UK, we are gambling with UK citizen rights in the EU.
Already the UK Government's attempt to settle the matter has been rejected. It is also noticeable that the concern, debate and compassion shown by the media, politicians and public to grant EU citizens residency rights in the UK has not been reflected with the same enthusiasm by anyone in the EU organisation or any member states. There has been no assurance or guarantee that action by the UK on this matter will be reciprocated in the same way.
If the UK went ahead with this, what is to say that the EU or any member state would not then use UK citizens’ EU residency rights as a bargaining tool for other negotiating concessions? Can we be sure that these rights would not be used for example, in negotiating extra payments to the EU, more Spanish involvement in Gibraltar, granting greater access to UK fishing grounds or relinquishing areas of the financial sector?
Maybe others have more faith in the negotiating process, but we have heard several warnings from within the EU and member states that they will not show the UK any favours during negotiations. Even if most of the member states agree to grant residency rights to UK citizens currently resident in the EU. it only requires one member, the EU Parliament or even as we saw in the trade treaty negotiations with Canada, a region within the EU to object for an agreement to fail.
With the triggering of Article 50 so close why not wait and make the issue of reciprocal residency rights our first negotiating issue? To do otherwise would in my opinion be naive and risk the future of those UK citizens currently living in the EU.
Paul Lewis,
99 Guardwell Crescent, Edinburgh.
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