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Following their appearance at the House of Commons Select Committee for Exiting the European Union in January 2017, a coalition of UK citizens' groups voice their opinions on the publication of a report entitled 'The government's negotiating objectives: the rights of UK and EU Citizens'.
Press Dispensary
Mar 6, 2017 - 5:59 PM
Coalition of Groups Representing UK Citizens in the EU Comment on Select Committee's Brexit Report
Following their appearance at the House of Commons Select Committee for Exiting the European Union in January 2017, a coalition of UK citizens' groups voice their opinions on the publication of a report entitled 'The government's negotiating objectives: the rights of UK and EU Citizens'.
Press Dispensary
Mar 6, 2017 - 5:59 PM
The coalition comments: "We welcome the report of the Exiting the EU Committee, which makes key points concerning the safeguarding of the existing rights of UK citizens to reside and work in EU countries, after the UK leaves the EU. We are pleased to see that the Committee, which is cross-party and includes a number of Leave-supporting MPs, has taken on board the important points we made concerning pensions and healthcare. We would have liked to see more recognition of the fact that the rights we stand to lose are a bundle of indivisible rights.
"Given that the large majority of UK citizens living in EEA countries are working, we would also like to see greater focus on the many complex issues raised in our written and oral evidence. These concern working UK citizens and their continuing rights to work - whether they are employed, self-employed, run a business and/or have their qualifications recognised.
"Finally, we are pleased to see that the Committee agrees that the right course of action for the Government is to guarantee unilaterally the existing rights of EU citizens in the UK. We hope the House of Commons will pay attention to this when they vote on Amendment 9B.
Sue Wilson, who gave oral evidence for the coalition before the Exiting the EU committee emphasised: "The fact that the Committee has taken on board the recommendation that EU and UK nationals should not lose any healthcare rights, and that the Government should seek the continuation of existing reciprocal arrangements for uprating pensions, is welcome news. Of course, these are only recommendations and we eagerly await a response - and some action - from the Government."
Listen to Sue Wilson on Talk Radio Europe
Gareth Horsfall added: "The Committee has made a good start in examining the issues facing UK citizens who work in the EU, such as mutual recognition of qualifications as well as aggregation of pensions. This work must go further because the large majority of UK citizens in Europe are, like their EU counterparts in Britain, working families who do the hard graft of carrying British trade and culture to Europe, often providing services on behalf of and for UK domiciled businesses. This means looking at the whole package of existing rights needed to work, or run a business, in an EEA country, so that livelihoods of working UK citizens in the EEA are guaranteed post-Brexit."

The coalition, who are all working together for the common good comprises the following groups across the EU:
• Brits in Europe (Germany)
• British Community Committee of France
• Expat Citizen Rights in EU (ECREU)
• Fair Deal for Expats (France)
• RIFT (Remain in France Together)
• Brexpats Hear our Voice (Belgium)
• British in Italy
• Bremain in Spain
• EuroCitizens (Spain)
• Europats
• BRILL (Luxembourg)
The House of Commons Department of Exiting the EU Select Committee Report can be found here:
![]() Sue Wilson, Debbie Williams and Gareth Horsfall
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"Given that the large majority of UK citizens living in EEA countries are working, we would also like to see greater focus on the many complex issues raised in our written and oral evidence. These concern working UK citizens and their continuing rights to work - whether they are employed, self-employed, run a business and/or have their qualifications recognised.
"Finally, we are pleased to see that the Committee agrees that the right course of action for the Government is to guarantee unilaterally the existing rights of EU citizens in the UK. We hope the House of Commons will pay attention to this when they vote on Amendment 9B.
Sue Wilson, who gave oral evidence for the coalition before the Exiting the EU committee emphasised: "The fact that the Committee has taken on board the recommendation that EU and UK nationals should not lose any healthcare rights, and that the Government should seek the continuation of existing reciprocal arrangements for uprating pensions, is welcome news. Of course, these are only recommendations and we eagerly await a response - and some action - from the Government."
Listen to Sue Wilson on Talk Radio Europe
Gareth Horsfall added: "The Committee has made a good start in examining the issues facing UK citizens who work in the EU, such as mutual recognition of qualifications as well as aggregation of pensions. This work must go further because the large majority of UK citizens in Europe are, like their EU counterparts in Britain, working families who do the hard graft of carrying British trade and culture to Europe, often providing services on behalf of and for UK domiciled businesses. This means looking at the whole package of existing rights needed to work, or run a business, in an EEA country, so that livelihoods of working UK citizens in the EEA are guaranteed post-Brexit."

The coalition, who are all working together for the common good comprises the following groups across the EU:
• Brits in Europe (Germany)
• British Community Committee of France
• Expat Citizen Rights in EU (ECREU)
• Fair Deal for Expats (France)
• RIFT (Remain in France Together)
• Brexpats Hear our Voice (Belgium)
• British in Italy
• Bremain in Spain
• EuroCitizens (Spain)
• Europats
• BRILL (Luxembourg)
The House of Commons Department of Exiting the EU Select Committee Report can be found here:
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