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Today’s radio show with Bobby Gee on Island FM 88.6 was talking about one of the most controversial subjects on many Brits’ minds lately, especially those who are living on our Island, that is none other than BREXIT. The British Honorary Vice Consul of Zakynthos and Kephalonia, Mr. Matthew Delapp joined the programme to discuss the subject and answer questions that Zakynthos Informer members provided.
mattBOBBY GEE:-So, let’s start of with some questions that have come in via the social media, one of them is “If the UK crashes without a deal in place what happens to those of us who live here and what about the access to UK bank accounts?
MATTHEW DELAPP:-Ok that is a good question, so, if the UK crashes out without a deal in place the British Government has recongnised a scenario where a possible no deal exit has been spoken about quite a bit in the past, well, it would mean that businesses and citizens all round would need time to adjust in order to minimize the disruption, so we are carrying out preparations for a no deal scenario, but that would mainly focus on maintaining continuity now in the short term and our objective would be to ensure that people are able to continue living their lives as normal, we would hope that would mean with access to UK bank accounts, so I can’t see those private enterprises being impacted as much, meaning you can be outside of the EU and access UK bank accounts either via internet banking or through ATMs, credit cards and so on. I would like to reiterate in regards to that, that we don’t expect a no deal scenario, as a result of the significant progress that has been made in regards to negotiations and the agreement that was reached in March, at the March European Council with regards to the implementation period and we are increasingly confident that there will be a deal secured with the EU and between the EU and Great Britain.
passports
BG:- What about passports and visas, that sort of thing? Is that something that we are going to have to get?
MD:-Well, again this is a question as you said from one of your listeners, well the way it is going to stand at present with regards to that and with the agreement already reached at the March European Council, that until the end of the implementation phase everyone will be able to continue living their lives broadly as we do now, including the free movement rights, that will still continue during the implementation phase. The future relationship with the EU, which will include future travel is still being negotiated at present, so then there may or may not be a requirement for visa travel, at present that is still on the negotiating table, but with regards of the implementation phase what has been agreed is that for that period of that phase, things will continue as they currently are.
BG:-People who are actually planning to move here, that’s another question in a few years time and important, after BREXIT will it affect them?
MD:-Again until the end of the implementation phase what ever periods that are agreed upon, it will be the same as now. After that people who are planning to move to Zante in a few years time, they will have to wait as it will depend on the outcome of the negotiations, so it will depend on, with regards to what agreements are made between the British Government and EU 27, that’s the 27 Governments, the remaining EU members and again the negotiations are on going, so we can’t necessarily say it will go one way or the other, we can’t say what a definite outcome would be at present.
BG:-How is BREXIT going to affect?
MD:- We won’t have time to cover all the things that could be spoken about, all the implications, but let’s hope we can shed some light on where we currently stand and what things have been agreed to and things that are still being negotiated on, then we can think of where the future negotiations are going, that we should be able to shed a little light for residents here, Kephalonia and on the mainland, and how they may be impacted. I would like to also add at this point, that from the beginning of the process the Prime Minister in the UK has been very clear that safe guarding the rights of the EU citizens living in the UK and the UK nationals living in the EU was her first priority for negotiations and that can be seen in the initial agreements that have gone through, in regards to citizen’s rights and alike. There are some parts of the process that have been almost nailed on already, as we spoke about earlier in your questions.
BG:-The EU stated that nothing is agreed until all is agreed, and it seems to be just going on and on really.
MD:-Yes, well as you said the UK Government and the Commission of State providing certainty for citizens is their highest priority, so, believe that any deal we’ve already come to on citizen’s rights and the work agreement that has been put in place we can’t change that, the things that have been agreed upon earlier on, they won’t be re-opened at this point. It seems that it is fixed and has been put away, so I can’t imagine either the EU or definitely not Britain looking to re-open that and start an amend to what’s already been agreed to.
BG:-So, you are saying that when the negotiations move on to the next stage, what happens is that basically as for citizen’s rights, it is whatever is agreed upon now, right?
MD:-Well, basically. Providing security to citizens is top priority and that’s what we’ve all worked hard for through the negotiations to agree that a final deal works for all. There are many important matters that where the British Government wanted to resolve in the first phase of the negotiation of issues but will now have to return to during the second phase of negotiations and that would be like onward free movement for a UK national, so that would be looking at the rights for example, someone living here in Greece perhaps in the future may want to move to Spain, how would that work, and similar situations for example, people who are posted workers, so workers that have been posted abroad, future health care arrangements and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications to ensure that the people who have got such certificates of professional qualifications from the UK, that they are recongnised within Europe. We wanted to get that complete in the first phase but unfortunately that wasn’t possible so we will be going to look at those elements, those areas, to be fixing them and getting them down within the second phase.
BG:_So, as you where saying, it is in the next phase that there will be a continuation to seek on going movements, correct?
MD:-Yes, for the UK nationals that are already living and working within the EU, yes. imagesThe negotiations pushed hard for this during the first phase negotiations but the EU approached us saying that it wasn’t an issue for phase one but for the future, so the UK government essentially wants UK nationals that are living in EU to continue with their lives broadly as they do now and that includes the right to onward movements. We’ve got a future relationship white paper and it clearly sets out that we want to preserve those rights for UK nationals covered within the withdrawal agreements, and the withdrawal agreements already agreed upon in phase one. It also confirms in there that we want to discuss this in the contexts of the future partnership.
BG:-What action or any actions does it take to secure their rights and status here?
MD:-Well, I would have to speak in regards to the present, the way we are now, within the withdrawal agreement, in other words the part that has been agreed to so far, with regards to citizen’s rights.
BG:-OK, please go on.
MD:-As a general principal, at the British Consulate, we encourage people to register according to Greek Legislation. We have spoken about that in the past on your radio show.
BG:- Yes, we have mentioned that you should register your registration cards .
MD:-Yes, that’s right make sure your pension is all registered, that you are getting it here that your health care is registered, the standard kind of elements that you need to get into Greek society, your residency permit, work permit, whatever else is needed. We have always said that irrespective of BREXIT, I believe most of your listeners today would have done that anyway, most British Nationals, that I know living here in Greece and that I have come into contact with are quite integrated into society, so they normally have got all their work permits and things alike. If they are not working they would have their health care agreements and likewise for retired people as well.
BG:-Is there a check list anywhere, where people can check to see what they need?
MD:-Yes, there is. What I would recommend is to go to “The Living in Greece guide” on gov.uk So, if you go onto www.gov.uk and then type in, “living in Greece guide” (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-greece), it’s something that’s produced by the Embassy in Athens and the consulates around, we all kind of feed into it and you can check the resident’s tab and make sure that you are registered. Make sure that you have done all the processes that you need to but as I said in order to get things done here you need to have a tax number, if you need to buy a car you need to have a residency card, so all of those kinds of things most have normally done already. UK nationals that are legally registered in the EU before the end of the implementation period will be within the scope of the withdrawal agreement, so that’s a part that we have agreed on already and it will apply to British Nationals that are legally registered within the implementation period, so that means their “citizen’s rights” are European citizen rights and will be protected. This really is a very important point that you have made, what can your listeners do and what should your listeners do, that would be my recommendation, as it has always been whenever we’ve chatted, to be legally registered and that’s irrespective of BREXIT but I would highly recommend that now. Another point for your listeners to consider is that the UK announced in late July, how it is going to proceed with registering EU citizens in the UK, so that’s what we have called the EU settlements scheme and we are now, as the UK government is expecting to hear back from the EU 27, the 27 countries that remain in the EU. Different EU member states and countries like Greece are included, may choose to proceed in the existing system, so the registration that we normally or currently have will be the same or they may choose to introduce some changes for British Nationals. Previously citizens of the EU that are no longer in the EU are no longer citizens of the EU, however if you go into the “living in Greece guide” again on the website and sign up for the “updates” the sooner we are made aware of it, as the British Embassy or British Consulate is around, you will receive an update then to say exactly what process you need to follow when and if it happens. So you can be registered now but there may be an additional registration or an additional piece of documentation you are going to need in the future but that hasn’t been stipulated as yet. We have done it in the UK for EU citizens but as yet we haven’t received an infinitive of what you need to do in Greece, Spain or any other EU country. Am sure we will receive something but as soon as we know about it we will be updating the “living in Greece guide”. So, if you sign up for the “updates” for “living in Greece guide” on gov.uk, you should be made aware of that as it happens, but I am sure we will talk about it on your radio here, Bobby.
BG:-Another question from our listener Tom; as stated in the implementations last till the end of December, 2020 following the possible exit of March 2019, to the best of your knowledge, all rights will stay in place until the end of the implementation period is up ?
MD:-That’s what the plans are at present with regards to the withdrawal agreement, that is the part of all of this that has been agreed so far, is that within the withdrawal agreement things will stay broadly as they are at the moment for the entire implementation period.
BG;-So, Matt there are lots of things I suppose that haven’t been talked about or are still talking about?
MD:-Yes, obviously there are on going negotiations besides all this but even today with our discussion today, I am sure there are listeners out there that have got particular concerns and particular questions that they..
BG:- Yes, I’ve got one here quickly …Do you still have to have six months left on your passport after your return date?
MD:-They would need to speak to their individual airline company, it would be the best thing to do with that, so speak to your airline, I have heard of people as far as immigration is concerned, when I last spoke to immigration here in Zakynthos, they were quite happy for people to be able to come in with less than that and then leave with less than that, however individual airlines can dictate and say no we want you to have six months on it.
BG;-OK, One listener is asking in regards to being registered, we have a resident’s permit and a tax number and typical health care, can you please tell me what is the registration?
MD:-Go, to the “living in Greece guide” and that will go through all the elements of what the Greek state currently requires for you to be considered registered. However, from what it sounds like the person briefly saying they have a tax number, residency permit, that is along the lines of being registered, that’s what you need.
BG:-So, can you tell us where we should go then?
MD:- As we said we can’t cover everything here now that people might want to discuss but if you want more information, initially the best thing to do is, refer to the “Living in Greece guide” on gov.uk and sign up for the “living in Greece updates”, so if something changes and as soon as we get it you will be informed as well, t is also there for specific information on living in Greece but it includes ensuring that everyone is correctly registered with the Greek authorities. It goes through what elements you need to do to be correctly registered at present in Greece, so it is really important. So, go to www.gov.uk and then search for “living in Greece guide” and that will take you through to the Embassy page as gov.uk covers everything with regards to the UK government. If you type in the search box “Living in Greece guide” it will take you straight there, it’s the quickest way to get to it. Then another thing to do would be to connect to our official UK in Greece Facebook page. O, if you type in “UK in Greece” in Facebook there’s a particular page there that will give out info on upcoming out-reach events that we are doing. This is for when we go out and chat to people about consulate work or about BREXIT issues or other concerns that people may have, so can you connect on that. We have already done a few out-reach events in Corfu and Patra and we plan to do more across the region and we will be gald to meet in person some of the people to discuss any questions they may have. I, personally plan for the meeting to take place during the winter months, here in Zakynthos. There was an option to do one during the summer but I know how busy town gets during the summer and also a lot of people working, or if they are not working they have people visiting or otherwise engaged. During the winter months people have a lot more spare time, so I delayed any meetings for Zakynthos and Kephalonia for it to happen later on, so I hope to put some meetings together then.
BG:-When you talk about meetings, what do you mean getting a venue or something?
MD:-Yes, we get a venue and then let people know, for example something along these lines.. on the 10th of December we are going to have a meeting in town, there will be people coming from the Embassy to chat about consular work and also consular work here, what we can do here and then we can get specialists who are involved in BREXIT on a day to day basis coming over, maybe someone like the Deputy Head of commission maybe or an Ambassador possibly and then we could get a hundred residents from here to pop along or to be there with any questions they may have. I think it would be a good even, personally because it’s good to get that information out there and to the people. Finally any updates on negotiations you can go to gov.uk and sign up for the BREXIT updates and that’ll give you particular updates from the British side of the negotiations to tell you what is happening and what’s or how things are changing and where they are seeing as to going forward.
BG:-Alright, lovely. Thank you very much it was a tough discussion but am sure we will speak again. Thanks again.
So, there you have it Zakynthos Informer Members, BREXIT and more, we would like to thank Bobby Gee and Mr Matthew Delapp for the exclusive and look forward to hearing more form you both in the near future.
