Your article (Leaked file shows contrasts for Britons in EU after no-deal Brexit, 4 April) quotes “a leaked EU document” that “presents a hotchpotch of attitudes among the EU27” towards UK nationals. It then refers to some countries being more “generous” than others, citing Slovakia and France as differing examples.
This ignores significant variation in systems and legislation at EU country level regarding freedom of movement and implies that some countries are more “generous” by choice. Such differences merely reflect those in national systems.
Pre-Brexit, the UK did not require EU nationals to register or apply for residency to become self-employed. In Slovakia, they were awarded permanent residency when they applied for residency, enabling them to access the same rights as Slovak nationals under freedom of movement. In France, permanent residency was not required in such circumstances.
EU27 countries were encouraged to ensure UK nationals could continue working and living in the EU after Brexit, and recent legislation in France and Slovakia does exactly that.
UK nationals in Slovakia will keep the permanent residency they were entitled to as EU citizens.
UK nationals in France were advised to apply for residency permits pending citizenship. Many are teachers and therefore civil servants, a status restricted under French law to French and EU citizens. Measures drafted by the French senate stated they would lose that status after Brexit, but the French national assembly voted otherwise, contradicting suggestions that France might be less “generous” than other EU27 countries.
EU27 countries are dealing with Brexit fallout as best they can. Establishing poorly assessed hierarchies of “generosity” is ill-judged at this point.
Catriona Menzies Martin, Slovakia
Ruth Menzies Pertuis, France
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