My Lords, the status of EU nationals living here and UK nationals living in the EU is, as this debate has so very clearly shown, one of the most emotive issues—if not the most emotive—created by our country’s decision to leave the EU. Whereas so many other matters that we debate focus on dry economics, this touches on the most basic and immediate of issues: the lives of over 4 million people who have chosen to make a foreign country their home—Europeans who are our neighbours and our friends, many of whom work in our public services, such as the NHS; and British citizens, who may live hundreds of miles away, but whose interests this Government and this Parliament have a duty to represent and protect.
We all agree that we have a duty and responsibility to British citizens in Europe. We also all agree that European nationals make a very valuable contribution to our nation, especially in organisations such as the NHS. We all know the uncertainty that Brexit has brought to these people’s lives, and we all want to do what we think is ethically and morally right. So we all wish to sort this issue out as quickly as possible, to bring certainty to the lives of these millions of people. The very simple question before us today is: how? I know this question has created a dilemma for many of your Lordships, on all sides of the House. The amendments before us make various points but, as we have debated, they coalesce around one point: they wish the Government to make a unilateral declaration to guarantee EU nationals’ rights. I could labour the point that such amendments have no place in this Bill, and that is true—others have said that this is a very simple Bill—but shall not dwell on this, because when one is discussing the issues of more than 4 million people, such arguments may seem somewhat overly legalistic. Instead, I shall make just two core points.
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First, let me set out the position of EU nationals living here in the UK and the protection afforded to them. Between now and the date of exit, nothing will change for EU nationals living here in the UK. We are still bound by the EU treaties and the free movement directive. Under that directive, any EU citizen who is
exercising treaty rights, or has acquired a permanent right of residence, continues to have a right to reside in the UK while we remain a member of the EU. There is no need to apply for a document to prove this, although I obviously understand that some will prefer to do so. We are doing all we can to make this process as simple and pain-free as possible, for example by introducing a European passport checking service to reduce the burden of providing original documents and by moving the application form online. It is worth mentioning that no applicant is required to complete every page of the application. To those who have raised the need for people to show that they hold private medical insurance, I stress that this is an EU requirement, not a British Government one. Again, I emphasise that an EU national who has been continuously and lawfully residing in the UK for five years does not, under current rules, need to apply for a document to prove their right to be here permanently.
As to the future, the Government remain bound by the European Convention on Human Rights and, in particular, the obligation to protect the right to a private and family life. We will continue to remain bound by the ECHR after we leave the EU. I assure noble Lords that all decisions that the Government take, all policies that they formulate and all positions that they adopt in the negotiations will comply with our obligations under Article 8 of the ECHR on the right to respect for private and family life. The questions raised by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, are all perfectly valid, but I would argue—and the Government believe—that they are the subject of further legislation that we in this House will debate.
Let me now turn to the Bill to repeal the European Communities Act—the great repeal Bill. It will not be used to change our immigration system; this will be done through a separate immigration Bill, subsequent secondary legislation and immigration rules. To address the very valid point made by the noble Lord, Lord Campbell, nothing will change for any EU citizen—including their residency rights—without Parliament’s approval. To summarise: any EU citizen who has been lawfully and continuously residing in the UK for five years or more automatically acquires permanent residence, under EU law.
After we have left the EU, the UK will continue to be bound by and observe the ECHR which, in accordance with Article 8 and appropriate case law, will protect EU nationals’ right to respect for their private and family life, as it does for others. Perhaps most crucially of all, nothing will change for any EU citizen without Parliament’s approval. This is the protection afforded to EU nationals here at the moment.
However, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, said, we do not want EU nationals to have to rely on the ECHR for the right to remain once the UK leaves the EU. So my second point is about the future. It can be summarised in one word—a word we have heard so often this afternoon. That word is fairness. From the outset we have said that we want to secure the status of EU nationals living here, but in doing so we also need to secure the status of UK nationals living elsewhere in the EU. The Government believe that this approach is fair and respects our duty of care to UK nationals in the EU.
As has been said, we were keen to come to an agreement before the negotiations begin. The Prime Minister raised this issue last autumn and made it clear subsequently to a number of her counterparts across Europe that she was prepared to start discussions on the issue before we triggered Article 50, so that we could try to reach an agreement quickly on what we have always recognised as one of the most important issues of the negotiation. However, as your Lordships will know, a small number of our European counterparts insisted that the phrase “no negotiation without notification” was itself non-negotiable. So it was not possible to act on our intention to press ahead with negotiations leading to an early agreement.
Consequently, as has also been mentioned, the Government have said that this issue will be an early priority for the negotiations. The encouraging messages from European leaders, most recently heard during the Secretary of State’s visit to the Baltics, makes the Government confident that we will indeed be able to reach a quick and timely agreement with the European Union. This all means that for anyone in this House who wishes there to be certainty both for EU nationals in the UK and for UK nationals across Europe, it is imperative that we pass this Bill as quickly as possible, so that the negotiations can begin.
The basis of Amendment 9B appears to be that this issue can be agreed only once Article 50 has been triggered, and the negotiations have begun. On that, given what I have said, the Government agree. Furthermore, as I have said, the Government see it as an early priority for the negotiations, as do other EU states—which, again, the amendment reflects. On that we also agree.
The point of difference is therefore very simple, but fundamental. It is the word “fairness”. If we had failed to come to an agreement on this issue after three months of negotiation, and we were forced into this course of action, where would that leave those 900,000 UK citizens in Europe? Would this bring certainty to those people, to whom we have a duty of care? Would the European Union, and all the 27 member states, see it as a negotiating priority to give them clarity as to their status? And when would they get that clarity?
These are questions that each of us should bear in mind as we decide how to vote on the amendment—an amendment that would touch the lives of over 3 million Europeans here and 900,000 of our own citizens across Europe. The sooner we pass this simple Bill, the more quickly we can seek that agreement: a fair agreement—fair to EU citizens and fair to UK nationals. So, while I would not for a moment question the motives of those who have tabled the amendments, I would ask every one of your Lordships to think of the consequences if this course of action were to be followed, and I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.