We’ve been offered an olive branch on EU citizenship. Don’t let them swat it aside – The Guardian
Being a citizen of the EU brings tangible benefits. It allows Britons to move easily to mainland Europe and between European countries. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Despite Brexit, and the often tone-deaf nature of the current governments diplomacy, it is heartening that senior European politicians remain committed to British people having a close relationship with Europe in the future. That is why Guy Verhofstadts comments, supporting the rights of British citizens to retain some of the advantages of our European Union membership, are welcome. The government should respond positively, demonstrate its commitment to negotiating in good faith and with goodwill and see how important it is that both parliamentarians and the public should be fully involved in the Brexit process.
Being a citizen of the EU brings tangible benefits. It allows Britons to move easily to mainland Europe and between European countries, be it for work, study or pleasure. More than a million of our fellow citizens have done so, from those who have retired in Spain to tech entrepreneurs in Berlin. Services such as the European health insurance card guarantee free medical treatment for Britons who fall ill in another European country. The open skies policy and the near-abolition of roaming charges have made the European continent a smaller place. And of course the EUs economic foundations the single market, customs union, funding for universities and poorer regions have made us all better off, creating millions of jobs in Britain through free trade with the worlds largest market.
Young people want a good job, a living wage and somewhere to call home, so revolt against anything that makes these goals less attainable
Young people I meet feel particularly strongly about this. First, because they are such an international generation better travelled, better engaged and more open in outlook than their parents or grandparents. Second, because the economic insecurity that has bedevilled young people in recent years makes the material opportunities created by the EU ever more important. Young people want a good job, a living wage and somewhere to call home so they revolt against anything that makes these goals less attainable such as a hard Brexit that would damage our trade and so make them worse off.
The governments mindset as it enters negotiations should be attuned to preserving as many of our links with the EU as possible, keeping Britain an open and tolerant country. Whatever happens over the next two years, the UK will still be part of Europe. It will still be our biggest trading partner, one of our most important allies, and the home to many British citizens. We need a good deal that retains, as David Davis has said, the exact same benefits on trade that we currently possess.
This means a diplomatic strategy based on goodwill not schoolboy jokes about punishment beatings, or posturing about leaving with no deal at all is required. The government should welcome the olive branch offered by Verhofstadt.
Ministers must be creative in finding ways for British citizens to continue to enjoy the benefits of EU membership, and our trade and security links to the EU must be maintained. An early and positive step would be to immediately guarantee the right to remain of EU citizens living in the United Kingdom. They are human beings, not cards, as Liam Fox called them. Such a gesture would create goodwill among the EU27, and doubtless lead to a positive outcome for Britons living in the EU.
The House of Lords amendment on EU citizens returns to the Commons on Monday, along with an amendment that would give MPs a meaningful vote on the final deal, with the power to send Theresa May back to the table if it does not measure up to expectations.
Open Britain, the campaign I chair, is mobilising hundreds of volunteers around the country this weekend, calling on people to write to their MPs to support both these amendments. Ultimately, Verhofstadts words reminded us of the power of the European parliament in this process. We must fight against an outcome where the British parliament has less power than Brussels and Strasbourg over its own governments negotiating strategy.
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We've been offered an olive branch on EU citizenship. Don't let them swat it aside - The Guardian