Spain demands UK 'reciprocity' on resident rights
"Spain
is demanding reciprocity from the United Kingdom in one of the most
sensitive aspects of Brexit: treatment of its migrants. The Spanish
government has urgently passed legislation in order to protect the rights
of the 365,967 Britons who are officially resident in the country, but is
yet to see similar mechanisms put in place in the United Kingdom for the Spaniards
who have made that country their home. The caretaker foreign minister, Josep
Borrell, has already conveyed this concern to the British government of Prime
Minister Boris Johnson, and has warned that, if there is no equivalent move
from the UK
as the country leaves the European Union, the Spanish framework for British
residents will decline.
Reciprocity is necessary. And reciprocity cannot be
guaranteed in half-measures – it is either there, or it isn’t
LUIS MARCO AGUIRIANO, SPAIN ’S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE
EU
The future of more than half a million people – the 365,967 Britons
who officially live in Spain and
the 180,000 Spaniards who reside in the United
Kingdom – will depend on the way that the divorce
between London and Brussels is consummated. Both the governments
of caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and of
Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party have said that they want to preserve
the rights of this collective, but the formulas used to do so differ. The United Kingdom
has put in place a general scheme for all European Union citizens – Spaniards
among them – that, with some nuances, freezes the range of rights that they
currently enjoy under the rules of the European Union. The mechanism consists
of two categories: “settled status,” with very generous conditions, and
so-called “pre-settled status,” which carries with it fewer rights. The
official figures from the UK
show a fall in the proportion of citizens who fall into the former category. In
April of this year, when the system officially began, 66% of applicants
received settled status. Today the percentage has fallen to 57%.
The UK ’s
current Brexit minister, Steve Barclay, met last week in Madrid
with Spain ’s
caretaker Foreign Minister Josep Borrell. The rights of citizens, one of the
most symbolic elements of Brexit, were a key part of the debate. Barclay expressed
his gratitude for the law that had been approved by Spain , which is the country of
choice for the majority of Britons who opt to live in the EU. But Borrell
warned the minister that these advantageous conditions will only be maintained
if they are reciprocal, a standpoint about which the British delegation
requested clarifications.
“We have told them that our royal decree will ensure that
everything remains the same in the case of a no-deal Brexit,” said Luis Marco
Aguiriano, Spain ’s
secretary of state for the EU, and who took part in the meeting with the
British minister last Thursday. Speaking to EL PAÍS via telephone, he added:
“But for that, reciprocity is necessary. And reciprocity cannot be guaranteed
in half-measures – it is either there, or it isn’t.”
In order to clarify all of the small print, both sides will
be meeting again in the first week of October
From the start, the royal decree includes that
conditionality. Article two of the legislation stipulates that if, within two
months, the British authorities do not grant “reciprocal treatment” to Spanish
citizens and companies, “the measures covered [by the legal text] will be
suspended.” Aguiriano pointed to this requirement and warned that the UK has not
currently covered it in law.
In response, the British authorities have said that their
scheme to extend
the rights of EU citizens who are already living in the country
guarantees the conditions that are covered by the Spanish decree. The plan from
London includes the right to work, to use the
healthcare system, to have access to education, to receive benefits such as
pensions and to spend time outside of the UK , albeit with a limit of five
years, after which “settled status” would be lost. Diplomatic sources argue
that exact matches cannot be sought between the two texts, but they add that
the requisites required by the Spanish government have been met. “Although there
may be some elements that will require further development, for our part we
consider it to have been met,” British sources argue.
In order to clarify all of the small print, both sides will
be meeting again in the first week of October. On this occasion, political
representatives will not attend, but rather the heads of more technical levels.
The aim is to clear up as much as possible the uncertainty
over Brexit, which is currently due to take place on October 31. For now
there are no guarantees that the exit will take place with a deal between London and Brussels .
Aside from the coverage that it offers, the British scheme
to obtain permanent residency after Brexit is not automatic. A total of 86,400
Spaniards have applied for this protected status since August 31, according to
data from the British government. That accounts for nearly 7% of all the
European requests, which makes Spanish residents the fifth-most-numerous
collective. The Foreign Affairs Ministry calculates that of this group, around
70,000 have already secured settled status, a high percentage (81%), but not
exhaustive".
The memorandum is limited to guaranteeing the “correct
application of the provisions” contained in the protocol on Gibraltar
included in that withdrawal agreement agreed on by EU governments with former
Prime Minister Theresa May, but that was later rejected by members of
parliament in the House of Commons. The EU protocol expressly covers the rights
of “cross-border workers who reside in Gibraltar or in Spain , in
particular in the territory of the municipalities that constitute the
Association of Municipalities in Campo de Gibraltar.”
But the options for the survival of the general withdrawal
text within which that Gibraltar protocol is contained are very scarce,
although in recent days the European Commission has been more optimistic with
respect to a deal with London .
Spanish, British and Gibraltarian sources consulted by EL PAÍS have played down
the importance of that legal obstacle and insist on the will to preserve the
content of what has been agreed, beyond the formula that needs to be employed.
The third text that regulates flows with Gibraltar
after Brexit is the Spanish royal
decree covering a hard Brexit. The legislation provides for rights such as
access to healthcare and education for Gibraltarians who could need them in Spain . It also
guarantees financial and transport services. This framework will only come into
force should the UK
crash out of the EU with no deal".
English version by Simon Hunter.
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