The European Commission refuses to sign a separate treaty protecting the rights of European citizens living in Britain and the UK living in the EU.
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For the last three years they have been fighting, they are angry at the British government, which is constantly blowing hot and cold. The leaders of The 3 Million, who fight for the rights of European citizens living in the United Kingdom, are pestering the gray areas that still surround the status of Europeans after Brexit. But they also protest against the attitude of the European Commission, considered too inflexible.
Admittedly, from the beginning of the negotiations, it made the right of citizens a priority. The fate of the 3.7 million Europeans in the United Kingdom, and the one million Britons living in the European Union, has been the subject of lengthy negotiations, culminating in the agreement signed last year by Theresa May and the European Union. A few details, the rights of each will be retained.
Only here, what would happen in case of "No Deal"? Citizen accreditation is part of the Brexit agreement as a whole. For lack of signature at all, it will remain a dead letter.
"We can not settle for soft words," worries Monique Hawkins, a Dutch woman from The 3 Million Association. A separate treaty, dedicated to citizens, must be signed. This hardly requires any work, as the negotiations on the subject have been successful. We just have to take the text out of the global agreement and ratify it separately.
"We are used as pawns in this negotiation. The EU has the power to make this treaty apart from citizens. "
But from the beginning, Brussels rejects this request. There is no question of starting to make sub-agreements, which might weaken its negotiating position. According to the Commission, the risk is that the British will then ask for separate agreements on customs, pharmacy, aviation, finance until the risk of the "No Deal" is practically reduced to nothing … "Michel Barnier (the European negotiator) has repeatedly told us that nothing is concluded until everything is agreed," says Hawkins. But it is an error of the EU. We should not be part of the overall agreement. Nicolas Hatton, a French co-founder of the 3 Million, confirms. "We are used as pawns in this negotiation. The EU has the power to make this treaty apart from citizens. "
