Brexit and Citizens' Rights

As the "Brexit" train rolls on, stopping and starting along the way, the UK Government has been negotiating with individual EU member countries to secure reciprocal rights for each other's expatriate citizens in their host countries.

On 18th June 2019, the UK and Luxembourg Governments announced that they had signed a treaty that secures the rights of British and Luxembourg citizens to stand and vote in local elections in each other's countries after the UK leaves the EU.

This follows the announcement of similar such treaties with  Spain on 21st January 2019 and with Portugal on 13th June 2019.

Steve Barclay is reported as saying on the occasion of the announcement of the  Luxembourg treaty:

"We've now signed three reciprocal voting rights treaties and I hope we can agree many more in the coming months with the remaining Member States."

Amid all the hype and confusion of current events, it is good to know that steady progress is being made to sort out post-Brexit arrangements on a range of detailed issues.

There is , however, no room for complacency!