UK nationals and EU citizenship: References to the European Court of Justice and the February 2018 decisions of the District Court, Amsterdam
Professor Anthony Arnull , University of Birmingham, UK The decision of 7 February 2018 The interim decision of the District Court, Amsterdam, of 7 February 2018 caused quite a stir among Brexit-watchers. The case concerned promised not only to be the first reference to the Court of Justice on Brexit but also to raise one of the most fundamental questions posed by the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU: whether, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, withdrawal would necessarily mean that UK nationals would lose their EU citizenship and the rights that status gave them. The proceedings had been brought by seven claimants. The first five were UK nationals resident in the Netherlands. The sixth and seventh were associations. One, Brexpats, had been established to protect the interests of UK nationals affected by Brexit. Its claim was found to be inadmissible. The other, CADS, had been established to promote Anglo-Dutch trade relations. A challenge to the admissi...