Citizens’ rights continue to be a central element in the discussions about Brexit. In a recent meeting with the ETUC Confederate Secretary, Pál Belényesi discussed various matters. The mutually useful conversation concluded that trade unions in the UK are seriously concerned about the UK government being way behind its promises, and industry sectors start to suffer from the uncertainty. Employees do not know whether they will be able to stay in the UK in the long term, what happens to their salary levels (increase vs stagnation), who pays their health contributions. There are promised but nothing is on paper, no legally binding texts are available. On the other hand, employers hold back market information and investment decisions, because of uncertainty.
It seems that just today, the draft Commission text on the withdrawal agreement was leaked, at least according to at least two media outlets. The proposed text gives the EU27 the possibility to suspend UK access to the single market if earlier promises – e.g., on citizens’ rights – are not kept.
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