In June 2016, an historic vote to break away economically and politically from the EU took place. It brought out many complexities that remain unresolved, one of them being what to do with Europeans living in in the UK and the UK citizens with interests, including work, property and education, in the UK. There are millions of people from both the EU and Britain living outside of their countries and how the transition happens is still unclear.
Brexit is scheduled to officially take place in March 2019. The countdown is on but nobody is sure as to what’s actually going to happen when the clock ticks over. Although there are some anti-Brexit groups campaigning for a second referendum, the UK government and the main UK opposition party say Brexit will happen. Challenges of Brexit include passports, travel, work permission, trade exchange and borders.
Negotiations about future relations between the UK and the EU are continuing. Both sides hope they can agree by mid-November 2018 an outline of how trade, travel and security will work. If all goes to plan this deal could then be given the go-ahead by both sides in time for 29 March 2019. In July 2018, Theresa May delivered the Chequers Plan – the UK’s official offer to the EU on how Brexit should work. European Council President Donald Tusk’s rejected the Chequers plan at an EU summit in Salzburg in September 2018, leading to increased speculation that the UK could leave the EU without a deal. Unpicking decades of treaties and agreements covering thousands of different subjects was never going to be easy. It is further complicated by the fact that it has never been done before.
Brexit has also far-reaching implications for UK business, The post-Brexit trade deal is likely to be the most complex part of the negotiation because it needs the unanimous approval of more than 30 national and regional parliaments across Europe, some of whom may want to hold referendums.
Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, about two million Poles have moved to UK in search of better lives. Many of them have since returned but it is estimated 900,000 Poles still live in the UK, making them the largest non-British nationality. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of descendants of Poles in the British Isles whose origins stem from the war and post war immigration. Their parents or grandparents were displaced Poles or part of the military corps that remained in the UK after WW2. If you are a descendant of Polish emigres, you can have your Polish citizenship confirmed and still be able to benefit from EU’s generous laws.