The latest news about Brexit seems to change almost every day and it can sometimes feel that regardless of the huge wealth of information, the negotiations aren’t going anywhere. However, those UK citizens who live and own property in European countries, or are thinking about doing so, are always on the lookout for anything that might clarify their position post-Brexit.
At first, experts and commentators had predicted doom and gloom for the future of British ex-pats in the EU after Brexit came into effect, but the most recent breakthroughs could give reason to be quietly confident.
Background to Brexit
On 23rd June 2016, Brits voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Negotiations about how to go forward with the process started about a year later, with a date for Britain’s exit being set for 29th March 2019. Thanks to the most recent vote, the Brexit date has been postponed to either 22nd May 2019 or another date prior to 31st October 2019, at exactly 11pm GMT, which is midnight in Italy and many more parts of Europe.
There is a transition time planned for after this, or an ‘implementation period’, as the government prefers to call it, which will last until 31st December 2020. During this time, the previous laws and agreements will continue to be valid while all the organisations and institutions work out how exactly to implement the changes ratified in the negotiations.
How does this affect ex-pats living in Italy?
The latest news to come out of Brussels confirms that UK citizens will have their rights to work, live, study and retire in the EU protected. People who current live in Italy and those who move there before 30th June 2019 will not experience any change in their status. Students will still have the right to study in Italian universities, paying the same fees as Italians, and retirees will continue to see their pensions rise at the same rate as before, either in line with inflation or by 2.5% per year.
On the other hand, freedom of movement will be seriously limited. While UK citizens who are resident in Italy can stay there with all the same rights, they will not be able to move to another EU member state as easily as they could do before. Going on holiday to another European country post-Brexit should be just as easy as ever, but moving from Italy to live in Spain, for example, will be subject to severe restrictions after Brexit. It’s the same story for those who move to Italy from Britain after Brexit is officially put into practice, so if you were planning on moving out to Italy, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later.
There has been much talk recently of changing nationality or getting dual citizenship as a counter-measure to these Brexit restrictions. In the first six months after Brexit alone, it is estimated that there was a 165% jump in the number of Britons seeking to become citizens of another European country.
There are an estimated 64,000 Brits living in Italy and so the processes for this are not as strict as they are in other countries. Any national of an EU member state who has lived in Italy for more than 4 years is eligible to apply for Italian citizenship. This can mean either claiming dual citizenship, which is permitted between the UK and Italy, or renouncing your British nationality. If you wish to take advantage of this law, you might want to do it as soon as possible because the rule is 10 years for non-EU citizens, and the Italian government may want to apply this to Britain after Brexit.
Such decisions should not be taken lightly, of course, and might not even be necessary depending on each person’s circumstances and what deals finally come out of the European negotiations. The Brexit talks are still going on and nobody really knows what will happen in the end, with the government even preparing itself for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. In truth, this is a work in progress, and while certain preliminary conditions have been agreed for the state of British ex-pats who live and own property abroad, nothing is set in stone just yet. While most people can expect to have their rights protected and not be overly affected by it, all Brits in Europe should keep themselves informed about all the latest news and consider carefully what they’re going to do. idealista/news will certainly be keeping an eye on all the Brexit developments as they happen.