Yes you could just like today. There are some misconceptions regarding medical treatment in EU countries. As a citizen of an European country you are entitled to receive only emergency care in any other European country in the same conditions as the other country's citizens. You can't receive extended care without being a resident. Up until the recent economic crisis everybody closed the eyes to several things, medical treatments included. Spain is one of the countries which treated everybody irrespective of nationality, either from another EU country or from somewhere else. In fact, Spain was a destination for health tourism with even Americans going to Spain to receive free medical treatment. With the crisis several governments (the Spanish one of them) went back to the library and started reading the exact wording of the treaties, curbing what they used to provide to others in strict accordance with the letter of the Treaty of the European Union.

When in the past, in order to live in Spain, you just had to go to the police and register, now, you are able to register only if you have a job or, if not, if you show evidence of being a person of independent means and a full health insurance policy with full coverage. Otherwise you can not register as a EU resident. This has always been the wording of the treaties. You can go to look for work in another EU country for a maximum of 90 days. After that you either have a job and can stay or you do not and have to go back. Before the crisis nobody really minded this but now several countries do.

My concern is that if we leave Europe, in true E.U. form, they will have a tantrum and make us pay for it. Imagine needing a visa to go through the channel tunnel etc.
Any country could inflict any limitation on Brits as they felt like. I don't want to be trapped on this expensive, grey ,wet Island with my only escape being dependent on having a load of cash to invest etc.

I'm pretty sure you can stay as long as you like in any EU country. Working or not. There is no 90 day limitation.

That's true already nowadays. I mentioned Spain in my previous post for it was the country mentioned by you. But I can speak about another country which is very close to the British minds and hearts, Malta. In order to live legally in Malta right now you either have a job there or you must show that you are a person of independent means (or a retired with a fixed pension or some sort of fixed guaranteed income) and have full health coverage.

Where things might become different is that right now you can go and look for work in other countries. Just like before the EU in the EEC times and the same as happens with Switzerland and Norway, both non-EU countries. In a worst case scenario the UK would be considered a third country like any other but I don't envisage such happening just like that. As a matter of fact, if the UK leaves the EU I see the EU imploding shortly after.

For some reason many people think so. But that is not the wording of the treaties and never has been. The basis is article 45 (if my memory serves me right) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union with regulamentation done with several minor directives.

As I said, you can not even register as a resident in several countries these days without having a job nor have medical care other than for emergencies, etc, etc. Now, you can go and stay in a country without being a resident, yes, you can, for it's hard to show for how long you have been in the country. But in most, without having a registration number your life will be very hard. Even to open a non-resident bank account you will have trouble these days.

In any event you can read the link below for a brief explanation.

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.o...eedom-movement

I had no idea.... I've never heard that. But I'm naive to the politics of Europe.

My girlfriend is Italian and she came to the UK three years ago. She never had any restrictions or problems. After two years she became a resident. She pays more tax than I ever have and as a medical professional, she contributes more than I ever have to society. If we leave Europe, she may have to leave too. That makes no sense to me. Personal feelings aside.

Why would she need to leave? She is already a resident of the United Kingdom. I strongly doubt that existing rights would be revoked in case of an exit.

Hey, people move from country to country in the rest of the world outside the EU! :-)

Sorry.. She's a resident. Not a citizen. Without the EU she has no right to be here.


Outside of Europe, I can't live and work anywhere without sponsorship or money to invest..

As I said, I strongly doubt that by exiting the EU existing rights are revoked. She already has the right to reside in the UK so I strongly doubt that, at least while she has a job, her residence is revoked. Now, others who want to go and live there or vice-versa it will depend on the agreement that the UK reaches with the EU on that particular. In a worst case scenario and provided that the EU keeps in existence people who want to live in the UK coming from other European countries and vice-versa are treated like any other nationals.


It varies from country to country but the general rule is that inmigrants are allowed according to the needs of the host country. What, as a matter of fact, seems to me to be the right thing to do.

In any event, I repeat myself, that particular will depend on the agreements reached by the UK with the EU during the exit negotiations. And, of course, provided that the EU still keeps alive. Norway and Switzerland are not part of the EU but are part of the free movement of persons.

The problem with Abu Hanza was down to European Human Rights legislation which is nothing to do with the EU.

Successive Labour and coalition governments ducked the obvious solution, however there's a report in today's Sunday Times that suggests the government will shortly "change domestic law to make clear that parliament is sovereign and Britain's courts are not bound by Europe's Charter of Fundamental Rights."

As to the EU, I thought we joined a Common Market of like countries, and the ever expanding inclusion of countries to the east is of no interest to me. I don't see that the UK has anything in common with Roumania, Bulgaria and the Baltic States, let alone the possible expansion to include Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. No wonder the Russians got the heebie jeebies over Ukraine.

We were wrong to focus on European trade over that with the Commonwealth nations.

I will be voting to leave. The EU is another level of government we don't need and locks us out of world deals because we are part of their" bus tour" rather than free to do what works for us . Nothing will change, the Swiss etc. Do fine outside of Brussels control. There may be tantrums if we do decide to go, but the Spanish can't give up our holiday money, the Germans our luxury cars market in exchange for our lower spec ones etc. Leave in 2017, be back to normal only without the huge bills by 2019.

Andy

A variation on this aspect has been reported in the UK media now and again; in the case of UK nationals who were taking work in Europe before bringing their non-EU spouses back to the UK.
In the cases reported, 90 days of work was needed in some European location before entry to the UK was possible without a vast amount of hassle to those involved; the details of quite why this all work/s/ed escapes me at the moment and I may have the detail wrong but what I do recall is how UK nationals had to jump through a lot of hoops to re-enter the UK after being overseas in specific circumstances.

Anti-money laundering regulations lie at the centre of this type of regulation.
Such agreements are unlikely to change in or out of the EU.

Switzerland is an example; they are opening up the detail of who has accounts there to international scrutiny, and gone are the days of secret numbered Swiss bank accounts.

Yes, AML is what started that frenzy with banking worldwide. However, without a registration number it's hard to open a non-resident bank account. With one it's fairly easy these days for then it is a resident account.


Numbered accts... I still remember when you could open a bank account in Belgium without providing a sole piece of identification. You just had to fill the forms and your account was opened. If you wrote as your name "John Doe" then the bank would address you as Mr. John Doe. Things have been changing a lot in banking practice worldwide.

Yes. I lived in Spain for a year in the early 1970s before we joined the Common Market in 1973 (Spain applied to join in 1977 after democracy was restored).

Yes, though you would have need a work permit. You weren't allowed by Franco's laws to run your own company, it had to be 51% owned by a Spanish national.

No, the reciprocal agreements were not in place, however today's agreements are not dependent on the EU, so could remain.

Not sure what you mean by this. Franco's Spain was a bit 'ad hoc' with legal issues.