Rights of British citizens residing in Italy after Brexit
12.4.2021
Question for written answer E-001938/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Brando Benifei (S&D)
Thanks to the declaratory implementation of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, Italy should automatically guarantee full rights to British citizens living in Italy before 31 December 2020. They should not, therefore, need a residence permit as they fall into a different category from other non-EU citizens.
They are instead entitled to a voluntary ‘residence card’, which should not need to be shown to obtain basic services and rights, such the right to work, to have a health card or to buy a house. Nonetheless, employers are asking for it for recruitment purposes.
So far however, the Italian State has issued only a very few of these cards and appointments to receive them have been postponed until the summer. Notwithstanding representations made by the British Embassy, Italy has still not yet adjusted its computer systems to include this category and, as a consequence, there are a number of British citizens who, while awaiting the issue of their residence card, have been unable to obtain work or a health card.
- 1.Is the Commission aware of this situation?
- 2.Will the Commission raise this issue with the Italian authorities so that they carry out the necessary adjustments to their computer systems as quickly as possible, to ensure there are no further similar cases and to restore the rights of British citizens residing in Italy?