<p>The Rights of European Citizens</p>

Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Counsel General – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 22 March 2017.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:35, 22 March 2017

I will tell you then: it is, in fact, section 70 of the convention. It has been the subject matter of legal consideration, and, of course, it is a convention that applies inter-member states. It does not accrue and give rights. It was part of the mythology, in fact, that was raised during the Brexit debate that, somehow, this would not be an issue, but all the leading legal opinion on this is that, not only is it a matter for member states, it does not convey those rights and would not be enforceable through the UK courts.

In respect of the point that was raised with regard to the UK Government’s position of fully expecting those rights to be honoured, that means that the UK Government is raising the possibility—and this is a concern that those individuals have—that they might not be respected. If the UK Government wants to take the moral high ground, and fully expects all these rights to be honoured, perhaps what we should do is take the position in respect of our own citizens and just do what is right, what is honourable and what is moral in respect of European Union citizens who live in Wales, instead of using them as bargaining chips.