Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of how the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 applies in relation to UK citizens currently living in other EU countries.

Mr David Jones

Article 70 of the Vienna Convention applies to States only. It does not create rights for individuals. Nevertheless, we would expect to deal with the rights of UK citizens living in other EU member states and the rights of EU nationals already living in the UK as part of the UK’s exit negotiations.

At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU member states were not protected in return.