A 'New Europeans' delegation, supported by Britain in Europe, met in Brussels with two high level officials in Michel Barnier's Taskforce on Article 50.
During the meeting, BiE founder Dr. Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos presented the results of legal analysis by BiE experts on the obligation of Member States to protect the right to private and family life, in accordance with international human rights law - Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in particular - and the duty that derives from this to immediately and unilaterally recognise the right of non-UK European citizens to remain in Britain (and the right of British citizens to remain in the EU countries where they currently live).
This analysis was central to the report that was submitted by New Europeans to the European Parliament hearing on EU citizens' rights on May 11.
Samia Badani, of the New Europeans, presented the Taskforce delegation with evidence about the impact of current uncertainty upon the more than 3 million Europeans in the UK, and the 1.2 million UK citizens in the EU, while also shedding light on the controversy surrounding the application of the CSI criterion in permanent residence applications in the UK.
At the meeting, the representatives of the Barnier Taskforce confirmed that protecting the rights of the EU citizens is an absolute priority for the EU, and a prerequisite for opening the negotiations in the future relationship of the EU with the UK.