Only 0.3m British settlement applications to the EU vs. 7.4m EU applications to UK

Who benefited from ‘Free Movement’? By 96.2% it was the EU27

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023

EU migrants to the UK versus British migrants to the EU – Part II

The official facts show that ‘Free Movement’ benefited EU27 citizens over 25 times more than it benefited UK citizens.

A Brexit Facts4EU.Org Series

Part I – The 7.4m EU migrant applications to live in Brexit Britain
Part II – The very small number of Brits who went to live in the EU (This report)

This comparison is particularly stark and shows up the fallacy from the Remainer-Rejoiners about their claim that Brexit means British people have lost this vital freedom. Very few wanted it and the traffic was almost all to the UK.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Total applications under the EU’s post-Brexit ‘Settlement Scheme’ (EUSS)

7,400,720 applications to the UK under the EU scheme for settlement (96.2%)
289,900 applications from British citizens to stay in the EU (3.8%)
TOTAL : 7,690,620

[Sources: UK Home Office | EU Commission.]

Catherine McBride, economist, commented in our Independence Documentary about this

“The main Remainer gripe is about passport queues and the ability to work in Europe, which is a something that neither they nor their children, nor even probably their grandchildren have ever taken advantage of while we were members.
“But suddenly when we left, this is the big opportunity that somehow has been taken from them. And when you look at it, you go ‘Well, how come all of the immigration was coming the other way?’”

To watch our full Independence Documentary click here.

The most complaints about the scheme from British citizens in the EU? From France

Below is what the House of Commons Library report had to say about the problems experienced by British citizens living in France and applying under the EUSS :-

“As France adopted a constitutive system, British citizens resident in France at the end of December 2020 were required to apply for a new residence status under the WA [Withdrawal Agreement].”
“In December 2021, organisations representing British citizens in France wrote to the European Commission requesting it to take urgent action to address what they described as “the failure by the French authorities to comply with the provisions on citizen’s rights contained in the Withdrawal Agreement”.
“The complaint referred to the delays experienced by some British citizens in France in receiving their residence card after attending the relevant appointments, and some citizens not having been offered an appointment at all. It also complained of unreasonable requests for additional information which were not in line with the WA, as well as applications being terminated without a decision being taken and with no appeal process, applications being lost, and vulnerable applicants not being given assistance after requesting it. Some applicants had received residence permits with incorrect details.”
- House of Commons Library report, 02 Nov 2022

The facts are very revealing

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Applications for settlement under EU scheme – France vs UK

Brits applying to the EUSS in France : 162,100
French applying to the EUSS in UK : 258,310

[Sources : French Government via EU Commission | UK Home Office.]

The approved EU applications to date

In these two reports we have focused on the number of applications under the EU’s Settlement Scheme. This was all agreed to by Theresa May during her tenure as Prime Minister, prior to the negotiations that followed and which ultimately resulted in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol.

For the record, below are the numbers of applications to the Home Office which have been approved to date. These continue to grow, month-by-month.

Total applications : 7,400,720
Total concluded : 7,239,130 (98%)
Total approved so far : 6,349,400 (86%)

[Source: UK Home Office.]

And finally, why the disparity with the census figures?

Every 10 years governments conduct a census which is obligatory in most countries. In the UK's case this shows EU migrant numbers less than the number of applications for settlement.

The major UK supermarkets record a massive amount of information on customers and the amount of food being bought. This helps them to cater for demand as efficiently as possible. The supermarkets believe the true population of the UK is significantly higher than the census figures. Based on eight years of research we agree with them, although we can't provide any official data about this. We just know it to be true.

We have reported on the official data in this two-part series. We leave readers to make up their own minds.

Observations

This two-part report has highlighted some of the direct consequences of the UK’s membership of the European Union.

‘Freedom of Movement’ was mostly all one-way – from the EU to the UK
This created what amounts to a population explosion
In turn this caused massive pressure on housing, GPs, dentists, hospitals, schools, roads, and all public services
The influx of so many unskilled workers meant that the lower-paid saw no real growth in wages
It also provided no incentive for employers to improve productivity through technology or innovation
It transformed high streets in some towns, with many shop windows only displaying signs in other languages
The ‘EU Settlement Scheme’ caused an enormous workload for the Home Office, just as it was being tasked to reduce immigration.

This has only been a summary

The Home Office data on the 'EU Settlement Scheme' is enormous. In our two-part summary we have only been able to include a fraction of this, or the reports would have been indigestible.

We must get reports like this out there

Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily. However, there’s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively – to the public, to MPs, and to the media. This is where you come in, dear reader.

Facts4EU.Org needs you today

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[ Sources: UK Home Office | EU Commission | House of Commons Library ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 23 Oct 2023

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Reader Comments 6

1. Paul j , Monday, October 23, 2023, 10:19:

Remoaners love to complain about loss of free movement but who in the UK benefited from it?
All those with EU holiday homes like Sparky did.
That's it!
It was all one sided and helped to keep UK wages lower.

2. Sparky , Monday, October 23, 2023, 12:22:

PJ. Very happy with my English home with stunning views thanks.
.
Last year non EU immigration was 6 times higher than EU immigration, total immigration is at record levels, the UK has always been able to control non EU immigration. Blaming the EU for high levels of immigration is just another excuse to complain about the EU. The issue wasn’t with the EU it was with our own politicians.
.
Excellent but frustrating investigative piece in the Sunday Times re the cover up of escalating costs of HS2 that took place since 2014 and how they HS2 Management made fools of the Govt and Ministers to keep the project running. This is the same incompetent, bungling Govt and Ministers that sold Brexit to the UK electorate.

3. terence patrick hewett , Monday, October 23, 2023, 15:16:

@sparky
The govt wanted to Remain: it was the referendum which facilitated Brexit. No wonder you lost.

4. NH , Monday, October 23, 2023, 15:25:

1 Paul j, "Remoaners love to complain about loss of free movement"
Many of the Remoaners can still move to the EU if they wish to. If they buy a house in Spain for 500,000 Euros (only 50% above the average UK house price and below the average price for many UK cities) they qualify for a "Residency Visa for Acquisition of Real Estate", family members can be included in this. If they then stay in Spain, or visit once per year for 5 years they qualify for permanent residency. In the Trade and Cooperation Agreement there were also agreements for "Intra-Corporate Transferees" for people who want to work in Europe.
.
Not everybody will qualify for these options but many of the Remainers who are claiming Brexit supporters have ruined their lives or their retirement plans are just making excuses.
.
2. Sparky, "Last year non EU immigration was 6 times higher than EU immigration"
I agree that immigration is out of control and the UK can control most of it. However there was a major difference between EU and non EU Immigration. With non EU migration we could control who qualifies and on what terms they qualify. With the EU we had no control. As the UK has a non-contributory benefit system any EU citizen could come to the UK contribute nothing and live off benefits, or commit crime if they wished to. As we could not control this it was potentially a huge liability and could have made our welfare, education and health systems unsustainable.

5. jon iivesey , Monday, October 23, 2023, 17:13:

4. NH , You make a key point. Immigration is just one example of a wider principle. When the UK was in the EU we could administer rules, but the rules were written in Europe. If the EU wanted to dump its unemployed in the UK and have the UK pay their benefits, they could do it very simply, by setting rules that made free movement the default. That is very different to non-EU immigration. Where non-EU immigration was concerned, we set the rules and then administered them. Now we have the same system for EU and non-EU immigration (apart from the "grandfathering" that allows EU citizens to apply for residence if they qualify).
This is just simple natural justice. The law ought to be the same for everyone. The EU should not be allowed to dump its unemployed into the UK just because we have a trading relationship with Europe. That is just an example of the strange way that Europeans have of believing themselves to be "special"

6. jon iivesey , Monday, October 23, 2023, 17:16:

2. Sparky , "The issue wasn’t with the EU it was with our own politicians." Complete nonsense. We did not impose free movement on the EU - they imposed it on us.

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