David Harrison is a lawyer, author and former diplomat specialising in EU issues.
Lurking within Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement, which will soon face another “meaningful vote” in Parliament, is an unpalatable fact: if it enters into force UK nationals will be stripped of their EU citizenship rights, whether they like it or not.
The same goes under a no-deal Brexit – and under any other species of Brexit which removes the UK from the jurisdiction of EU law.
What is so wrong with this? The EU is a unique legal system in the world, and, although it is not widely appreciated, under it individuals themselves – not just member states – have their own rights, directly protected under EU law. One of these rights is EU citizenship, which all UK nationals possess at present as a matter of course, in addition to their own nationality.
With EU citizenship we enjoy free movement to live, work and retire in more than 30 other countries. We have political rights, and the protection of the rule of law in other EU countries. Since EU citizenship comes with birth, even young people in the UK who cannot yet vote are in reality already citizens of Europe.
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But the withdrawal agreement as negotiated by the UK government with the EU simply takes all these rights away, without anyone affected having the remotest say. Apart from being undemocratic, this is actually wrong as a matter of EU law: anyone losing important rights like EU citizenship should be consulted first. If they do not want to lose their rights the withdrawal agreement should then include proper safeguard arrangements to look after them.
Because this process has not been gone through – and none of this was touched upon in the 2016 referendum – the withdrawal agreement is fundamentally flawed. MPs must not approve this massive loss of individual rights without the public’s say so.
All this adds up to another strong argument for putting Brexit to the people, for a further hard look. People need the chance to have their say before they lose important rights, and those of their children, for ever. And that’s what thousands of people, from every region and nation of this country, will be demanding at the Put It To The People march in London on March 23.
