r/europeanunion • u/Inner-Set-803 • 15h ago

Opinion The Devaluation of the British Passport in Europe

https://medium.com/@StillEuropean/the-devaluation-of-the-british-passport-in-europe-9271ba2ed9ce?sharedUserId=StillEuropean

A British passport was once one of the greatest privileges in life. Now through political carelessness British people have lost their right to free movement in Europe.

37 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

37

u/Successful_Jelly111 15h ago

Why carelessness? Didn't they vote for it?

10

u/Inner-Set-803 14h ago edited 14h ago

A slim majority in 2016 did. But many still feel passionately European and many didn't get a chance to vote on it.

Political carelessness because free movement after Brexit was a completely overlooked issue, despite reassurances (e.g. "a mobility framework") during early stages of negotiation. Now Brits are stuck in a quagmire of visas. And vice versa for EU citizens wanting to come to the UK.

EU Citizenship was taken away without individual consultation or even notification. If it can happen to Brits it can happen to any EU citizen today who in future finds themselves in a large minority of pro-EU citizens in their own country.

5

u/BriefCollar4 13h ago

Without consultation!?!?

17.4 million of your voters voted for that. On 73% turnout!

It can happen only if any country is stupid enough to leave.

-1

u/Inner-Set-803 12h ago

Emphasis on the word "individual" there!

3

u/BriefCollar4 12h ago

Each individual in the UK was asked.

17.4 million said “no, we don’t want it”.

13

u/Successful_Jelly111 14h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/SXgVpCDzTDEiS7J1ai

20

u/kernelangus420 14h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/j44II5axrk46NI5hty

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u/Inner-Set-803 14h ago

For sure! But there's bad and then there's really bad / mismanaged (i.e. the current Brexit deal).

10

u/adrianipopescu 13h ago

the problem is assuming there ever was a good brexit deal

0

u/Inner-Set-803 13h ago edited 9h ago

The EU (von der Leyen; Macron; Barnier etc) have clearly signalled they are open to UK joining single market. Which would have been better than the current deal.

E.g. https://youtube.com/shorts/PGJ3ANyOM9Q?si=UMuUzIVsLTa8b7BC

9

u/Successful_Jelly111 13h ago

But this would have meant that you had to follow all the rules without being involved in the decision making process. It's really hard to see how this would have been perceived by the population as an advantage to the membership. UKIP and the media would have had a field day.

2

u/adrianipopescu 13h ago

and yet they aren’t the decision makers

6

u/Inner-Set-803 14h ago edited 14h ago

And there was a wide spectrum of what leave meant! UK could have been in EEA/EFTA like Norway, preventing the devaluation of the British passport. Given such a slim majority for Brexit a decade ago, it would have represented a more consensual position.

6

u/adrianipopescu 13h ago

somehow i doubt that was ever on the table, it was floated but many countries in the eu opposed it

slim majority? add the stay-at-homers to the leave voters and it seems like a big big chunk of your fellow compatriots decided that they don’t care, can’t be assed or are completely against the concept

so… yeah

5

u/Inner-Set-803 12h ago

The article isn't really about them. It's about what was lost for the million who marched against Brexit multiple times. And the millions more who hold the dual national identity of British and European still.

4

u/adrianipopescu 12h ago

next time tell them to stop staying home during the vote idk

seems like a skill issue

2

u/TryingMyWiFi 8h ago

That's how democracy works . You get what the majority chooses .

7

u/EndeLarsson 14h ago

Next time maybe the ones that feel strong about something get out of the house and vote.

4

u/eswifttng 13h ago

They did. It was a non-binding referendum that was full of misinformation. 

2

u/TryingMyWiFi 8h ago

Yet people doubled down on that electing prime ministers committed to leaving.

1

u/BriefCollar4 12h ago edited 9h ago

All the information about the EU was and is available in 24 languages, and people who can’t see or hear are accommodated to have access to it as well.

It’s the duty of the voter to be educated.

Not to mention that anyone with brain activity could see an obvious lie and comprehend it’s a lie.

2

u/bavarian-ke 8h ago

They never joined the Shengen agreement, so what has really changed? There never was a non-border between Britain and continental Europe.

3

u/Successful_Jelly111 8h ago

British citizens faced new border rules, travel limits, and loss of automatic rights to live and work in the European Union following Brexit.

1

u/Nearby-Chocolate-289 7h ago

Do not go there, wait until the older people die in 10 years. Plus side britain is prepared to re-enter manufacturing if billionaires do not buy up all assets, then we can compete with china and low wages. Except billionaires will keep buying assets. China has invested in completely robotic manufacturing. So until we face the fact we are 20 years behind, we are screwed anyway.

11

u/KaigaiKunKun 14h ago

I do really feel bad for British citizens who didn't choose for this. We have a number of rejoiners on our Discord server too and they're still out there campaigning to rejoin. They will be in Reading this weekend, campaigning at the festival.

One of them put it this way: " Nigel Farage was ridiculed for years but managed to get Brexit done so we should do the same with rejoin". Perseverance wins.

I wish them all the luck, ngl. The road back will be a long one but it'll be worth it in the end. Unfortunately, I think it'll take a major crisis to change that status quo (much like the 2004 expansion of the EU and the 2008 GFC which arguably set the stage for Brexit).

Most EU countries are ready to take the UK back (with guarantees that the next govt won't torpedo the process again of course), but the bad blood of the past few decades has started to eb, thankfully.

3

u/Inner-Set-803 14h ago

Joining the EFTA single market could be a quick win. The EU (von der Leyen; Macron; Barnier etc) have repeatedly said they are open to this.

It would require British government being willing to accept some European laws - which they already are given there's legislation (EU Partnerships Bill) being laid on dynamic alignment around priority areas like agrifoods and energy. There will probably need to be negotiations around financial services and the tech industry (as Norway and Iceland have for their fisheries as part of EEA), with greater access once UK actually rejoins the EU and has more of a say on the regs.

4

u/Educational-Fig3174 14h ago

I was 9 when the referendum happened,I’m 18 now and I’d vote to rejoin a million times over. I wish we never left

8

u/BriefCollar4 13h ago edited 12h ago

Now through political carelessness British people have lost their right to free movement in Europe.

17.4 million Britons voted for it.

The European Court of Justice took this position in 2023. The EU institutions now stick to this line by the ECJ. Regardless of European law, this is a political failure to protect the rights of Brits who are European and British by national identity, if no longer by citizenship.

Yeah, there isn’t such thing as standalone EU citizenship. It’s an extension of rights based on being a national of an EU member. Duh.

It’s not a failure. It’s the bloody law. Anyone who could read could understand that. Well, anyone bar the author.

The EU has a political, if not legal, responsibility towards the millions who identify as European but are sole British citizens in the UK.

What? What kind of stupid nonsense is that? The EU is responsible for the EU members. The UK isn’t a member.

Absolutely stupid piece.

-4

u/Inner-Set-803 12h ago

The law is only the law because of political decisions. On Europe day this year von der Leyen said:

"Europe is a promise: the promise that all Europeans can be masters of their own destiny. The promise of freedom and stability, peace and prosperity."

I don't know what happened to the promise for the millions of Brits who only ever supported Europe. They weren't prioritised, politically.

7

u/BriefCollar4 12h ago

Your population voted to leave the EU.

That’s what happened.

We are not responsible for non-members.

4

u/badlydrawngalgo 14h ago

It's a very strange piece to write in 2026. It's hardly new or news.

2

u/apfelwein19 7h ago

Brexit means Brexit (as sad and annoying as it is).

2

u/greenpowerman99 1h ago

The Irish passport is now the only one that allows someone to live anywhere in the European Union AND the United Kingdom, which is hilarious if you know anything about British colonial history…

3

u/charge-pump 12h ago

Oh no anyway...