British citizens in the EU after Brexit reports on the responses of 1328 British citizens who currently live
in an EU/EEA member state to the survey ‘Migration and Citizenship after Brexit’. This is a largely settled
population reporting plans to stay put in the long-term, with evidence of multi-generation settlement
and changes to legal status to support long-term residence in the country of residence.
Family life is as significant as work and retirement among the reasons British citizens living in the EU
give for their past migration practices and future migration plans.
Brexit was reported as having had a significant impact on their plans for migration and settlement,
while the COVID-19 pandemic had had a negligible effect on these.
Those who did not share the same residence status and/or nationality as their close family members
highlighted that Brexit had introduced significant concerns about their future rights to movement as a
family, both within the EU and for repatriation to the UK.
Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly changed the feelings towards the UK of those
taking part in the research in a way that was unambiguously negative.
Brexit had led to a significant proportion of this population being ineligible for the right to vote
anywhere, with the loss of their right to vote in the European Parliament and, in most cases, the local
elections of member states sitting alongside the loss of their right to vote in the UK after living abroad
for 15 years.