In view of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, which will take effect at 11pm GMT on Friday 31 January, the Embassy of Italy, in collaboration with the Home Office, held a meeting with the Italian community on the rights of EU citizens. It was attended by the Minister of State for the Home Office, Brandon Lewis, and Conservative MP Alberto Costa.
Mr Lewis encouraged the Italian community to register with the EU Settlement Scheme, the procedure that guarantees continuance of rights to Europeans residing in the UK, as recognised by the withdrawal agreement. He explained that the scheme was introduced to allow European citizens to remain in the UK after Brexit and continue to contribute, without any change in their conditions, to the country’s social, economic, cultural and human progress.
Alberto Costa, a British MP of Italian origin, reassured the community that their rights would be maintained and announced the creation of an informal cross-party coordination group of British parliamentarians to monitor the respect of the rights of European citizens.
The Ambassador, Raffaele Trombetta, thanked the Home Office for its work in recent months to disseminate accurate, updated information on the Settlement Scheme, and he said that he was confident that the EU and the UK will continue to work together to protect the interests of European and British citizens.
