Every year, some our friends from the US come to the UK to stay in West Wales to avoid the hard and cold winters in Colorado; they would like to stay longer or even become British citizens. They enter the country under visa free rules and are usually allowed to stay for just six months. Their chances of becoming British citizens are virtually nil, and getting visas to stay longer than six months are intensely bureaucratic and expensive. Sometimes, they stay in the EU but they are restricted to staying 90 days within a 180 day period. Our friends would be model citizens if they were allowed to stay long enough to apply to become Britons or Europeans, as they are self sufficient and would not be any sort of burden to their new country of residence.
There is no such thing as absolute "Freedom of Movement", as the migration rules of the EU do not permit immigrants from another EU country to reside in another EU state for longer than three months unless: they are employed, self-employed or running a business, a student or a retired /self-sufficient individual. If you break these rules you could be asked to leave or even be deported- there is no free lunch. Usually you have to register as a resident after three months of staying. All these restrictions were lost on the majority of UK voters in the 2016 referendum.
EU citizens are, however, allowed to cross EU borders for tourism, business and family reasons with hardly any formality, and if your country is in the Schengen area you do not even need a passport or identity card to cross borders.
This ease of movement is a privilege which is something to be cherished in an increasingly controlled and bureaucratic world. I have discussed migration many times with our lovely American friends, as they would love to have such arrangements to ease their "freedom of movement" while visiting and staying in Europe. This privilege is a social bonus even if you do not take full advantage of it.
Today , I was looking at the chaos at the UK-Dover border with France; freight and tourist traffic was being held up for hours because British travellers are now subject to unfamiliar border regulations because they are now "Third Country Nationals". These regulations are now causing delays at peak holiday times. The town of Dover is now in gridlock, because of inadequate management of the tourist traffic. Brexit is the cause of this.
The Port of Dover is blaming the French border control authorities for not having sufficient personnel to examine passports. British travellers now have their passports examined for date validity and for overstayers who have stayed in the Schengen area for too long. This all takes a lot more time. Before Brexit none of these checks where taking place. Under Schengen rules you could now also be asked for proof of a return ticket and sufficient funds to support yourself, and proof of where you are going to stay. This is a bureaucratic nightmare. I've got a feeling that some of the French border control staff are turning a blind eye to families where one of their members has a non-compliant passport etc. They are not waging a vendetta against the British; they are just trying to implement the rules.
In easier times, in the past, I have often travelled between Jersey and France without showing a passport and if challenged I would say I forgot it, but no difficulties resulted. I often travelled in Europe with a work colleague who regularly forgot his passport and he was allowed to enter European countries for work purposes without a passport, and when he returned to the UK he simply said he had forgotten his documents and they let him in. Not anymore, you will not be allowed into any European country without a passport, if you are British, unless you are going to Ireland the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. British citizens are entitled to re-enter their country without a passport but try it now without one; you will delayed for a long time while they check you out.
It is no use complaining, for by leaving the EU and the Single Market, the British people have lost their ease of movement privileges. This is what the British people voted for- the control of our borders: we are denying EU citizens ease of movement into Britain and the EU countries are reciprocating. It is no use whinging that the French , Dutch or Spanish are not staffing their borders properly or that they are not waiving the rules for the British because "we" are exceptional. France, Holland and Spain are sovereign countries and they staff their borders appropriate to their own needs and not to the desires of the British.
Britain could probably negotiate a better agreement on ease of movement but this would have to be reciprocal, but in the current climate of bad relations between Britain and the EU this is unlikely.
Our American friends are not complaining about British or EU border controls not being easier for them, but they would love to have the privileges EU citizens have to travel almost freely within the EU and Schengen areas. A privilege that the British have lost. As a Briton, do you feel proud or duped?
