EU citizens' rights within the Withdrawal Agreement

11.10.2018

Question for written answer P-005184-18
to the Council
Rule 130
Charles Tannock (ECR)

The United Kingdom will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29 March 2019, as per the terms of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. As negotiations regarding the Withdrawal Agreement continue, and given the necessary ratification procedures required by the UK and the EU of any agreement, the time for negotiation is at this stage extremely limited.

With current estimates suggesting that only 80‐85% of the agreement is in place, the rights of EU citizens within the deal are in jeopardy under the mantra of ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’ in the scenario of a ‘no deal’, either because of a breakdown in the negotiations between the UK and the EU-27 or the UK Parliament’s failure to ratify the agreement. Given that the remaining parts of the agreement concern the most contentious issues, notably the backstop provision for the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, such a scenario is of real concern.

Will the Council urgently consider amending the mandate given to the Commission to conclude a separate treaty ring-fencing the rights of EU citizens outside of the overall Withdrawal Agreement?