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Following the December 2019 General Election there is alot of misinformation flying around so I'm posting this British In Europe item. This applies to British citizens that are resident in all EU countries, including Spain obviously!
From BiE.
"A BIT OF CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT
“I'm picking up that there is a bit of confusion about the Withdrawal Agreement and what happens to it if there should be no trade agreement by the end of the transition period. So here's a quick clarification.
1. Given the large Tory majority, it's almost certain that the current Withdrawal Agreement (WA) will be passed by the UK parliament in January, or possibly even sooner. It then has to be ratified by the European Parliament, but it's pretty much a given that the UK will leave the EU on 31 January 2020 and the WA will come into force then.
2. The citizens' rights chapter of the WA remains largely unchanged from the original Theresa May version, and it's this that will cover the future rights of British people who are legally resident in an EU27 country on the last day of the transition period. It's EU wide, and although each EU27 country will institute its own procedures for residence cards etc, they cannot alter the provisions of the WA.
3. Most of our rights remain unchanged until the end of the transition period. This includes freedom of movement, so it will still be possible to move from the UK to the EU during that period. We do however lose the right as EU citizens to stand and vote in local and European elections on Brexit day itself.
4. The media has been talking for some time about the possibility of 'no deal' at the end of transition - i.e. if there is no trade agreement and the UK ends up crashing out of the EU on WTO terms. However - and this is important - the Withdrawal Agreement would remain in place as an international treaty and the rights that it includes for us would remain covered. They cannot be removed even in the absence of a trade agreement. Once the Withdrawal Agreement is in force, we will be covered by it for our lifetimes whatever happens with future negotiations and would not default to the no deal plans put in place by our host country [Spain]. So please don't think that the rights it covers for us are temporary - they're not and will cover you for your lifetime.
“If you want a quick brush up on exactly what the WA does (and doesn't) cover, have a look at this article written recently for France Rights - it's equally applicable for Spain.”
https://www.francerights.info/2019/11/whats-big-deal-part-1-what-does-draft.html
And if you want to read the Oct 2019 WA itself, it's here (541 pages):
Chris
