The UK has reached agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and with Switzerland to address separation issues including protecting the rights of our citizens who have chosen to call each other’s countries home.
The Swiss deal protects the rights of the 40,000 UK nationals living in Switzerland, 14,000 Swiss nationals living in the UK, and around 2,600 UK nationals who frontier work into Switzerland (mainly from other EU Member States). Their rights will also be protected in a no deal scenario.
The EEA/EFTA deal protects the rights of the 17,000 UK nationals living in the EEA EFTA states and 15,000 EEA EFTA nationals living in the UK. We are discussing no deal arrangements with the EEA EFTA states.
The separation issues covered by this agreement are:
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Arrangements on goods placed on the UK or EEA EFTA markets
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Intellectual property
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Ongoing police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
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Data protection
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Public procurement
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Ongoing judicial procedures
This is significant, given that total UK trade with the EEA EFTA states amounted to almost £30bn in 2017.
In a joint statement, the Governments of the UK, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein said:
We are pleased to have reached this agreement. It will protect the rights of our citizens as the UK leaves the EU, and it will provide certainty to businesses. We want to put in place new arrangements from the end of the implementation period to protect our historic relationships, including in the area of trade.
In a joint statement, the UK and Swiss governments said:
In light of the UK’s exit from the EU, Switzerland and the UK have been in discussions on a citizens’ rights agreement. The legal text of this agreement has now been finalised and agreed by both governments. This will ensure citizens can continue living their lives broadly as now, and secure the rights Swiss and UK citizens currently enjoy. We want to put in place new arrangements from the end of the implementation period to protect our historic relationships.
EEA EFTA and Swiss nationals who want to stay beyond the end of the implementation period will be apply to the UK’s Settlement Scheme in the same way as EU citizens, and will need to do so by June 2021.
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