We want an #EUGreenCard - a Green Card for Europe!
OUR LATEST UPDATE
29 March 2022
Dear supporters,
Thank you for all your support for our Green Card campaign.
With the publication of Oxford University Migration Observatory's report on pre-settled status, we have a sark reminder of how important it is that EU citizens (and Britons abroad) should have a physical proof of their eligibility to apply for permanent residency in the UK under the Withdrawal Agreement.
As Dr. Ruvi Ziegler, Chair of New Europeans UK said in commenting on the report:
'New Europeans-UK is very concerned that many pre-settled status holders who do not reapply successfully for settled status risk losing their rights to live, work, and access services in the UK. There is a compelling argument for granting settled status to all those currently holding pre-settled status, and for enabling them to demonstrate their status using physical proof - in line with New Europeans' long-standing European 'green card' campaign.'
You can read the full report from the Migration Observatory on this link:
https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/how-secure-is-pre-settled-status-for-eu-citizens-after-brexit/
If you are able to donate a further contribution to our campaign fund for the EU Green Card this would be very much appreciated.
With thanks and best wishes.
Roger Casale
New Europeans UK
20 February update
The Green Card for Europe campaign is coming into its own as a way of solving many of the post-Brexit issues that have arisen, not just as a way of safe-guarding the rights of #the5million.
Many artists, musicians and performers are finding that the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement is so restrictive that their livelihoods are now in danger.
Stuart Murdock, the singer-songwriter for Scottish band Belle and Sebastian, told a hearing in the UK parliament: “Touring Europe has been a vital source of artistic growth as well as a commercial lifeline”
Tim Brennan, a video producer said:“Promoters do not want to deal with the process of getting work permits for British producers like me. They want people who have an EU passport.”
It is vital that we keep campaigning for an EU Green Card which could offer a way out from this dilemma.
If a way could be found to give free movement rights to artists, musician, performers, in fact to all who depend on free movement to be able to conduct their business or trade between the UK and the EU, then why not also give the Green Card to #the5million to protect our rights, too?
If prominent Brexiters like the pop start Roger Daltrey can be made to see sense, why not the UK government?
As Michel Barnier has commented: "a lot of the consequences of Brexit have been underestimated and often badly explained.”
The UK may have left the EU but so many issues remain unresolved. The talking will have to continue and practical solutions like the EU Green Card will have to be found to prevent key industries, such as the music industry from a rapid and steady decline.
We are counting on your continued help and support. Please keep sharing the petition and chipping in to our crowd-funder when you can!
4 February update
Thank you to all who joined us on 1 Feb. as we looked back after one year and a day to count the cost of Brexit on citizens' lives.
Watch the video here
It is clear from the individual stories and testimonies we heard about on Monday that there is still much work to be done to mitigate the impact of Brexit and make sure citizens do not pay the price.
As Else Kvist from New Europeans London wrote for Parliament Magazine:"That's not so much a warning about 'project fear' as welcome to "planet reality."
One year on and citizens are still paying the price , Parliament Magazine https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/one-year-on-and-citizens-are-still-paying-the-price-of-brexit
On Monday we also heard from: Elena Remigi, director of the InLimbo project which gives EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU the opportunity to tell their stories Tony Simpson, the driving force behind the European Citizens Initiative Campaigns for Permanent EU citizenship.
Caitlin Boswell, Project Officer JCW! and co-author of When The Clapping Stops: EU Care Workers after Brexit Paul Weller, Michael Arapis, Ekaterina DIitrova, Richard Appleyard - with personal stories about how Brexit has affected them.
It is vital that as one year after Brexit, we redouble our work to campaign for a Green Card for Europe and every possible protection for EU citizens in the UK and Britons in Europe.
As we did on that wet and miserable day on 31 January 2020 when the UK left the EU so today, we say: "Don't Make Citizens Pay the Price Of Brexit"
With your help we will continue to do that and to demand that the rights of all 5 million EU citizens in the UK and Britons in Europe are protected.
We hope you will be able to find time to watch the video and please subscribe to the NewEuropeans YouTube channel (it's free).
Thank you once again for all your support.
ROGER CASALE New Europeans
3 January Update
Dear Supporter
We don't know what we've got until it's gone and so it will prove with freedom of movement which came to and on 31 December.
Join New Europeans today
In moving testimonies during a 12 hour online vigil for freedom of movement organised by New Europeans, speaker after speaker raised the damage to people that ending freedom of movement will cause.
Over the next week or two we will be sharing with you some of those testimonies, starting with this conversation with Juliet Lodge, Emeritus Professor and European Woman of the Year in 1992.
Conversation with Juliet Lodge
Losing the right to work, love, love, study, retire anywhere in the EU if you are British, or to do the same in Britain if you are an EU citizen will dash the dreams and aspirations of many.
Meanwhile, for the #5million EU citizens in the UK and Britons in Europe, there is still uncertainty about many aspects of their new status and often a deep sense of alienation as a result of what has been lost.
We again make the point in an op-ed for The New European , that an #EUGreenCard would make life so much simpler for #the5million but also for those moving between the UK and EU in future.
Farewell to Freedom of Movement
It is only thanks to you that we can keep "flying the flag" for free movement, and making the case for a less restrictive approach.
If you are upset by the end of freedom of movement, why not join an organisation that has championed for the last seven years and continues to do so and join New Europeans today ?
To contribute to our campaign appeal please click below:
Campaign appeal
May we also take the opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year despite all the challenges we now face and to thank you again for all your support without which we not have been able to sustain this campaign.
With best regards
Roger Casale
Executive Director
NEW EUROPEANS
On behalf of our team of 2,000 members and 50 volunteers
19 December 2020
Dear Supporters
Thank you again for all your support for our #EUGreenCard campaign which we launched 2 years ago on 18 Dec. 2018.
With your support we have kept the unsettled issues which the Green Card would resolve high on the agenda in Westminster and in Brussels.
As we approach the end of the transition period, the need for a physical proof of status for EU citizens in the UK and to restore the free movement rights of Britons in Europe is clearer than ever before.
We hope you will join us on Thu., 31 December when we will hold a 12 hour vigil for free movement from 11am to 11pm - the moment free movement comes to an end between the UK and the EU.
https://neweuropeans.net/event/3449/connection-lost
Our aim is to show that the European story is a story told by and about people - people who have grown together in peace since WWII to build a better future for themselves and their families.
If you would like to share your thoughts, reflections, memories and stories about free movement and what free movement has meant for you’re and your loved ones, please join us on Zoom on 31 December.
To book a speaking slot, all you need to do is to send us an email at [email redacted].
We will come back to you with further details.
If you would like to pre-record a message that’s fine too. If you can’t join us on the day, please chip in what you can - it helps us put on a great show and to cut through with the press and social media.
To chip in £5, £10 , £25 or what you can afford, click here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/eugreencard
In the meantime, please find information about the event on the link below and do share the link with your friends and contacts. Free movement has changed so many of our lives for the better.
For the record and to remind ourselves and future generations what the free movement story was all about, let’s not allow this moment to pass without bearing witness and raising the cost.
Thank you and hope you can make it!
ROGER CASALE and all at New Europeans
PS To join as a member, click here:
https://neweuropeans.net/membership/start
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12 December 2020
For four years, New Europeans has been campaigning for a physical proof of status to ring-fence the rights and status of #the5million.
Our argument has always been that all the rights enjoyed by EU citizens in the UK and Britons in Europe before Brexit should remain the same.
There has always been broad agreement to this "no change" position from both sides of the channel and both sides of the Brexit debate.
The problem has been how to achieve it.
This week, MPs will debate changes to the Immigration Bill which could lead to EU citizens in the UK receiving a physical proof of status.
You can support the call for such a status by writing to your MP.
Additionally, please continue to support our call for an #EUGreenCard to be issued to #the5million.
The #EUGreenCard would be:
* issued by the European Commission
* available to EU citizens in UK and Britons in Europe
* guarantee pre-Brexit status and rights
* a physical proof of status
The best way to help our campaign for an EU Green Card is to continue to donate to our crowd funder if you can afford to do so and if you have not yet done so to join New Europeans as a member
The House of Lords development shows we can all make a difference if we keep up the pressure.
Please give what you can and help us keep fighting.
With thanks and best regards.
Roger Casale
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Previous updates
Despite the Withdrawal Agreement – which through the introduction of the EU settlement scheme (EUSS) mitigates some of the worst fears of ‘the 5 million’ (3.6 m EU citizens in Britain and 1.4m UK citizens in the EU) – the next phase of EU-UK negotiations is likely to see a return to treating citizens as ‘bargaining chips.
Read more in the Brussels Times
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The chair of Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group says the Withdrawal Agreement struck between the UK and EU could be vetoed if the issue of citizens' rights is not fully resolved before the UK leaves the bloc.
The Parliament Magazine reports on the New Europeans press conference and debate on citizens rights in Brussels
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Last week we took an important step forward with our campaign for an #EUGreenCard. Thanks to you support we were able to launch our #CitizensRights Manifesto including the call to all UK election candidates to support the introduction of an #EUGreenCard.
Award-winning nurse Joan Pons Laplana presented the campaign for an #EUGreenCard to an invited audience at Pushkin House London.bHe was joined by suffragettes Emily Davison, Millicent Fawcett and Mary Lee - the #EmilyMatters team of actors who campaign for civil rights today.
Read more here
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THE EU GREEN CARD PROPOSAL
The #EUGreenCard is a ground-breaking and award-winning proposal, currently under consideration by the European Parliament and which has been looked at by the Home Office and which offers a solution to the 3 biggest questions facing #the5Million EU27 citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU post-Brexit (see Q1-3 below).
European Green Card proposed as solution 
Q1 How can EU27 citizens in the UK prove they have 'settled status' in real life situations?
An #EUGREENCARD would provide a physical proof of 'settled status'. Settled status is a digital marker and the system can not be accessed from an iPhone, for example. A Green Card should be issued to every EU27 citizen in the UK with settled status so that they can prove that they have the same rights to equal treatment as they had before. A typical situation might involve an EU27 citizen applying for a job or trying to rent a property and being questioned by the employer or the letting agent about their immigration status. The introduction of the card would be accompanied by a publicly funded awareness raising campaign.
Q2 How can Britons in the EU keep their right to free movement?
An #EUGREENCARD would guarantee the right of Britons resident in one EU member state to be able to work, love, live, study, marry or retire in any other member state, in other words to freedom of movement . To obtain an #EUGREENCARD, British citizens would need a permanent residency card of an EU member state. The #EUGREENCARD will then give them the equivalent status and the same rights as an EU national of one member state who lives and/or works in another EU member state. So for example a British software engineer who lives in Lyon would be able to take a job and move to Madrid without having to apply for a new residency status and permission to work in Spain.
Q3 What happens it there is no Brexit deal?
An #EUGREENCARD could be issued whether or not there is a Brexit deal. This is because the #EUGreenCard is neither an ID card nor a residency document but a proof of status. The British Government has said that EU27citizens will be given unilateral guarantees of their #rightostay even if there is no #Brexit deal. The European Commission has asked EU member states to consider making a similar unilateral guarantee to British residents if the UK leaves the EU in such circumstances. Eligibility for the Green Card will depend on the card-holder having permanent residency in one EU member state, whether or not that right is secured multi-laterally through the Withdrawal agreement or unilaterally by individual member states.
Next steps in the campaign
The next three months are critical time because the ratification process of the Withdrawal Agreement in the UK and European parliaments provides the best opportunity to campaign for a commitment to the #EUGreenCard.
As explained above, the #EUGreenCard does not depend on there being a Brexit deal. However, pointing to the shortcomings in the Withdrawal Agreement helps to make the case even more strongly for a Green Card for Europe.
The European Parliament has made a commitment to protect the free movement rights of Britons in Europe and recognises the shortcomings of the 'settled status' scheme.
However, the Brexit Deal does not guarantee the free movement rights of Britons in the EU. The agreement also fails to provide for EU27 citizens in the UK to be given a physical proof of their 'settled status' by the Home Office.
There is a significant risk that the UK will leave the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement.
Whether the UK leaves the EU with a deal or without a deal, it is vital that the European Commission is called on to bring forward a legislative proposal as soon as possible. it will take time to prepare for the introduction of an #EUGREENCARD along the lines we are proposing and do the sooner the Commission starts to plan for this the better.
The appropriate committee to call for such a measure is the Constitutional Affairs Committee, chaired by Danuta Hübner MEP, the former European Commissioner for Regional Affairs.
Danuta Hübner MEP (below) has already announced that she intends to call Roger Casale to give evidence to the Committee about the Green card proposal on behalf of New Europeans.
It is expected that this evidence session will take place in February.
Your donation will help make sure we prepare for the hearing in the best way. That means briefing the other members of the Constitutional Affairs Committee and also the Brexit Steering Group in the European Parliament with whom we have been in regular contact.
We also need to continue to work with the European Commission and the Home Office to build up support and to create a consensus on the detailed arrangements for what we hope will become the first pilot of an #EUGREENCARD scheme.
Our advocacy campaign is backed up by a public mobilisation of support through our change.org petition which has over 50k signatures.
We need your support to help us take the petition to over the 100k threshold which will make an even greater impact given that there are elections in May to the European Parliament
People are suffering unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety due to the uncertainty.
Your support will give hope to the 5Million people whose lives have been thrown into limbo by Brexit and give New Europeans the resources we need to campaign for this outcome and to secure a result.
About New Europeans
New Europeans is an award-winning pro-European civil rights organisation which campaigns for the rights of EU27 citizens in the UK and Britons in Europe.
In January 2017 we were awarded the Financial Times Future of Britain Award for a Green Card for Europe proposal and in March of the same year we were awarded theSheila McKechnie Foundation People's Choice Award following a public vote for our #RightToStay campaign.
We have won two further awards in 2018 outside the UK, including the Schwarzkopf Foundation Europe Award and the CIDAN/ESDA Award for our role in promoting European citizenship and human rights in Europe.
On Monday, 18 March 2019, Roger Casale, was invited to present the #EUGreenCard proposal to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
Roger Casale is a former Labour MP and the founder and CEO of New Europeans.
More information on the New Europeans website .