The MEPs said the EU Commission must ensure that the free movement rights of EU citizens living in the UK are respected and that EU citizens should not be used as "bargaining chips" in the Brexit negotiations.
'We are not bargaining chips and we are not victims — we are citizens and we've got something to say'. Roger Carsale on #freemovement pic.twitter.com/V4OY2OUL7c
— Global Justice Now (@GlobalJusticeUK) 1 March 2017
MEPs stressed the uncertainty in which the 3.1 million EU nationals living in the UK were left after the June 2016 referendum on EU membership. They insisted that these citizens' right to free movement should be guaranteed as long as the UK remains a member of the EU and that their acquired rights must be respected even after it leaves. They also highlighted the plight of UK citizens living in other EU member states.
"Free movement is one of the EU's basic rights," said Commissioner Vera Jourova, making it clear that as long as the UK is a member state, all EU rights and obligations continue to apply. She agreed that EU citizens deserve certainty and fairness, but reminded MEPs that there will be "no negotiation (with the UK authorities) before notification" of their intention to leave the EU.
What I think of #whitepaper? #FutureofEurope #EU27 pic.twitter.com/vUiQNAUhO7
— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) March 1, 2017
Lords Amendment
Meanwhile, the legislation required to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon — the formal process of leaving the EU — was amended in the House of Lords, March 1, when members defied the UK Government and voted overwhelmingly for it to ensure the rights of EU workers in the UK within three months of triggering Brexit.
Thank you all #EUcitizens & #UKcitizens in EU who worked so hard — tonight our voices were heard, let's make sure our rights are guaranteed.
— New Europeans (@NewEuropeans) March 1, 2017
"Within three months of exercising the power under section 1(1), Ministers of the Crown must bring forward proposals to ensure that citizens of another European Union or European Economic Area country and their family members, who are legally resident in the United Kingdom on the day on which this Act is passed, continue to be treated in the same way with regards to their EU derived-rights and, in the case of residency, their potential to acquire such rights in the future," the Lords' amendment reads.
The issue will have to return to the House of Commons, where the subject of workers' rights was brought up at the initial stages of the bill, but no amendments were put. Theresa May's government has said it is confident the amendment will be removed.
The matter of whether or not to put in the Article 50 bill, the protection of the rights of EU workers currently working in Britain, is politically sensitive. It will form a major part of the negotiations over Britain's exit from the EU and its new relationship with the remaining 27 member states.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May can use the issue of the rights of existing EU workers in the UK — and the rights of UK workers in other member states — as part of her toolkit in the talks. If parliament sends her to Brussels with that promise already made, she loses an important negotiating point.
