Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

BREXIT

EU’s likely next boss ‘ready’ to back another Brexit delay if needed

European Commission president nominee Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday she would support delaying Britain's exit from the EU beyond an October 31 deadline if necessary.

Published: 16 July 2019 12:14 CEST
EU's likely next boss 'ready' to back another Brexit delay if needed

Even if the German defence minister's Brussels appointment is confirmed later Tuesday, she would not take office until November 1, after the Brexit cut-off, but her view may carry weight.

“I stand ready for further extension of the withdrawal date should more time be required for a good reason,” von der Leyen told a European Parliament ahead of a vote on her candidacy.

Von der Leyen's remarks triggered howls of derision from pro-Brexit members of the European Parliament, as said sought to tackle key areas of uncertainty caused by Britain's shock June 2016 vote to leave the bloc.

She stressed, for example, the importance of preserving the rights of citizens on both sides of the divide and maintaining peace on the island of Ireland: “These two priorities are mine too.”

Von der Leyen faced the European Parliament on Tuesday ahead of a knife-edge secret vote to confirm 
her in Brussels' top job.

The 60-year-old conservative will replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission if she secures a majority in the Strasbourg assembly.

If she fails — and the ballot could be close — then Europe faces a summer of institutional infighting between parliament and the 28 EU leaders.

And if her victory is close or is secured only thanks to eurosceptic members, her position will be weakened even before she takes over as the commission's first female leader in November.

She has had barely two weeks to make her case since the leaders declared her the nominee after a tense three-day summit, casting aside candidates backed by parliament.

But von der Leyen has responded with a series of written promises to the main centre-right EPP, socialist S&D and liberal Renew Europe blocs that she hopes will get her the necessary 374 votes.

And on Tuesday, she was broadly well received by sceptical lawmakers when she tried to reassure them of her environmental credentials and that she would build an inclusive five-year programme.

“I will put forward a green deal for Europe in my first 100 days in office. I will put forward the first ever European climate law which will set the 2050 target in law,” she said.

Member comments

  2. But there is no reason, at the moment, to delay any further. Until the EU comes to its senses and accepts that the UK must return to being a sovereign country then any deal such as PM May’s, is a myth and therefore why delay. Voted down three times in the UK parliament the deal is dead.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

BREAKING

‘We’ve found a solution’: Denmark extends deadline for post-Brexit residency

The Danish government announced on Monday that British nationals, who had missed a previous deadline to secure their post-Brexit residency status, will now have until the end of 2023 to apply or resubmit their late application.

Published: 27 March 2023 14:37 CEST
'We've found a solution': Denmark extends deadline for post-Brexit residency

After the UK left the EU, Britons resident in Denmark before the end of 2020 were required to apply to extend their residence status in Denmark and receive a Danish residence card under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

A significant number of British residents – at least 350, according to official figures released at the beginning of this year – did not apply before the original deadline of December 31st, 2021, however.

Many were subsequently given orders to leave Denmark and Danish immigration authorities came in for much criticism from rights groups representing Britons in Europe, who accused them of not correctly applying the rules of the Withdrawal Agreement.

But on Monday the Danish government announced that the initial deadline will now be extended until the end of 2023.

This extended deadline will apply to all British citizens who applied after the original deadline and whose applications were subsequently not processed.

Brits who had moved to Denmark before the end of 2020 but never submitted an application to extend their Danish residency after Brexit will also have until the end of this year to submit an application, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration said.

A major complication with the original application deadline was an error relating to information letters sent out by the authority that processes the applications, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

The information letters, sent in 2020, were intended to inform all British nationals living in Denmark of the need to apply for their residence status in Denmark to be continued after Brexit. But an error at the agency resulted in most people who moved from the UK to Denmark in 2020 not receiving the information mails.

The Local has previously reported on individual Britons who faced having to leave homes, jobs and loved ones in Denmark over the issue.

READ ALSO:

“I am very pleased we have found this solution,” Minister for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek said in the statement.

“It has always been the government’s intention to make it easy and smooth for resident British nationals to stay in Denmark. There are some people who didn’t apply on time and we want to give them an extra chance,” he said.

Mads Fuglede, immigration spokesperson with coalition partner the Liberals (Venstre), said that “In light of Brexit, we decided in parliament that it should not harm British residents of Denmark that the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU. I am therefore also pleased we have found a solution for the Britons who did not apply on time”.

All British residents of Denmark applying within the new deadline are still required to be eligible for ongoing residence in Denmark under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, meaning they legally took up residence in Denmark under the EU’s free movement provisions prior to the UK’s exit from the EU. This does not represent any change to the rules under the earlier deadline.

British residents who must now submit applications by the new deadline should be aware of the distinction between an earlier application being rejected, with it not being processed.

In general, late applications under the old deadline were not processed, unless SIRI deemed there to be special circumstances justifying the late submission. In these cases, SIRI informed the applicant that their application could not be processed, citing the missed deadline as the reason for this.

Persons whose applications were processed but were rejected because they did not meet the criteria for ongoing residence under the Withdrawal Agreement will not be given the chance to reapply, the ministry said.

People who moved to Denmark after the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31st, 2020 are still subject to general Danish immigration rules for third-country nationals.

The deadline extension will require a legal amendment which will be sent into the hearing phase of parliamentary procedure “as soon as possible”, the ministry said in the statement.

SHOW COMMENTS