More Brexit news for British nationals in the Netherlands
5 British nationals in the Netherlands are taking their case to court to fight for their right to keep their EU citizenship. The case will be heard in Amsterdam on Wednesday and will involve discussing the rights of these British expats in relation to European citizenship. They hope that it will be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
One of these expats, who works for a software firm is worried about the controversial Brexit move as he has to travel for work. He is worried what impact it will have on both his business and his everyday life if he cannot travel freely throughout Europe.
Another British expat, a financial director who has resided in the Netherlands for 23 years, is concerned about the rights of his children. His children have British passports and are studying in the UK, yet are planning to return to the Netherlands for work purposes. He argues that because he was not allowed to vote in the referendum (he was out of the country for too long), it has meant that he could not have a say in how Brexit will affect his life.
The impact for British nationals in the Netherlands
The lawyer for this case, Christiaan Alberdingk, claims that this case is to try and establish whether their rights are allowed to just be stripped from them, and what conditions these fall under. The argument put forward are that the rights of citizens in the UK are completely independent of the country’s membership to the EU. The decision to refer the case to the European Court of Justice is expected to take 6 weeks.
It will be interesting to see the ramifications of this court case and whether it will affect the Brexit proceedings overall. Especially as there is currently an estimated 73,000 Dutch nationals in the UK and 85,000 British nationals in the Netherlands. 1% of the population of Amsterdam are also Brits.
Enough of this serious talk now. Good luck to the claimants. If only this can be solved with a nice cup of tea (like everything else is).
What are your views on this issue? We’d love to hear them.
