Top UK Eurocrat demands Belgian citizenship for Brits

[Newman]

The European Commission’s most senior British official wants “high-level action” and even “infringement action” taken against Belgium for not making it easy for British officials who want to continue living in Belgium and working for the EU institutions after Brexit to get Belgian citizenship.

Jonathan Faull, the former leader of the Commission’s Brexit task force, demanded on behalf of British EU staffers “high-level action by the Commission with the Belgian and other EU member states to facilitate the process of obtaining dual nationality,” in a seven-page memo dated November 10 sent to outgoing Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, and obtained by POLITICO.

But British EU officials are running into problems in their efforts to get Belgian citizenship.

Normally, five-year legal residency is required to obtain Belgian nationality, something that is proven by paying into Belgium’s employment and health insurance schemes. But Commission officials do not pay taxes directly to the Belgian government, so they are considered residents but not tax residents.

Also, many EU officials have special EU IDs, not Belgian ones, which makes it difficult to prove residency. Despite a 2013 Belgian interior ministry guidance note, many local governments are refusing to acknowledge periods of time living in Belgium with the special diplomatic ID card. According to Faull, the local authorities are requiring proof of “economic integration interpreted as paying tax and social security contributions,” and will not accept U.K. officials’ Commission pay slips as proof that they paid taxes.

http://www.politico.eu/article/jonat...hip-for-brits/

[Newman]

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