As a start for our Blog, we are going to analyse, from a legal point of view, the consequences that Brexit will entail for British citizens residing in Spain.
As we have said, our analysis is from a legal and objective point of view, and the effectiveness so that Brexit legally starts having consequences for citizens will begin with the formal request by the British Government to effectively withdraw from the EEC.
According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which governs the process for any country to withdraw from the EEC, the withdrawal process may last 2 years, and such period may even be extended by common agreement of the parties.
Therefore, when the British Government formally requests to leave the EEC, the governmental rules, agreements and decisions that will govern the process will start to be established, and in particular when the legislative changes directly or indirectly affecting the rights and obligations of British citizens residing is Spain can be assessed.
For that reason, any statement or forecast analysed at this moment of uncertainty is speculative, even from a comparative point of view, as there is no precedent of similar situations.
From our point of view, the important bilateral interests existing between Great Britain and Spain, the large number of British citizens living in Spain and the previous record of bilateral cooperation policy, with their respective collaboration agreements between Spain and different non-EU European countries, makes us feel optimistic with regard to the solutions that will be adopted.
In conclusion, it is a time to be well informed, to wait until the necessary formal actions take place in the various governments and, when the time comes, you need to look for specialised counselling, both legal and fiscal, in order to adopt the necessary decisions, if they are really necessary…
From MSG LEGAL we will keep our clients permanently informed of the latest news arising during the Brexit process.
