The European Movement Oxford branch is working with the EU Embassy in London (or should that be the EU delegation in London, the UK climbdown on this issue can only be days away) to help promote the rights of EU citizens that have chosen to continue living in the UK after Brexit.
The UK/EU withdrawal agreement gives rights to all British nationals living in the EU and all EU nationals living in the UK. However, these nationals only have a fixed amount of time to exercise these rights.
In the case of EU nationals residing in the UK they must apply for pre/settled status before the end of June 2021. If they fail to do so then they face being caught in Priti Patel’s glare.
In order to help support EU citizens in our area, the EU Embassy has produced pamphlets in every official EU language to help citizens claim their rights.
Brexit is complicated, something that our [fishing] industry is just beginning to understand. People come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with very different personal circumstances. To assist, the EU has designed four different pamphlets to cover a variety of scenarios:
- General leaflet: What you need to know as an EU citizen living in the UK (Download here EU Citizen)
- Seniors leaflet: What you need to know as a senior EU citizen living in the UK (Download here Senior EU Citizen)
- Non-EU leaflet: What you need to know as a non-EU citizen living in the UK if you have, or had, a family connection to an EU Citizen (Download here Family of EU Citizen)
- Children leaflet: What you need to know if your child is an EU citizen or if your child is not an EU citizen but you are (Download here Children of EU Citizen)
There are 24 official EU languages and four leaflets so 96 different leaflets. Each leaflet is around 12 pages long. For this reason we are NOT asking you for help with door-to-door delivery.
To help support EU citizens in your community we are asking you to do three things:
The first is to identify areas in your community that EU citizens congregate in / around. This might be a cafe, a church, a European supermarket perhaps even a school or library.
The second is to tell us about these places so that we can order the suitable leaflets, in an appropriate language. Please tell us about these places by filling out this Google form (no account necessary) here: https://forms.gle/C7NDLGKuQiNJjMeS9
The third will be to collect the pamphlets once we have ordered them and ask the proprietor of the venue you have told us about whether you can leave them for EU citizens to pick-up.
I know many of you are keen to support your EU neighbours and friends. This opportunity allows you to do just that. We have opted to do it this way for three reasons:
- With 96 different leaflets it would be impractical to get the right pamphlet in the appropriate language through the correct front door via door-to-door delivery
- We are conscious that to print and post large pamphlets has an environmental impact and we want to minimise this as much as possible
- With the current COVID pandemic we want to minimise your exposure
Thank you for your help with this project. Please complete the Google form before Tuesday 16 February (pancake day).
Justin Meadows
European Movement Oxford Region 