Rejoining the EU would reopen doors for Britons in France, but ‘a long tail to Brexit’ remains

This interview is part of a series by The Connexion on the UK Prime Minister’s recent comments about rejoining the EU, how likely a return is and what form it might take.  

Michaela Benson, Professor of Sociology at Cambridge University, told The Connexion how Brexit had deprived British people, especially younger generations, of opportunities to live, work and study across Europe.

These included opportunities through the Erasmus university and work placement exchange scheme – which the UK is set to rejoin in 2027 – but also through free movement.

One impact had been on the UK’s universities, which, she said had, in some cases, lost most of their EU students who could no longer afford the higher post-Brexit fees, meaning many institutions had lost “vibrancy”.

For Britons in France before Brexit, one impact had been the need to obtain residency cards and secure their rights. It had been a long, drawn-out process before they were sure of what their situation would be, which she said was partly down to the UK’s own decisions at an early stage.

“The UK refused to just say ‘we will allow EU citizens to stay in the UK on the same terms as before’, so the EU retaliated and said ‘in that case, we are going to have to negotiate everything’.

“I think that was the sharp end of Brexit. And nothing is going to take away the stress, the strain, that feeling of being cut adrift that a lot of people felt.”

As for visitors, Brexit has meant standing in longer queues on holiday, passport stamping, or EES procedures, which would be eased again if the UK rejoins the single market with free movement rights. Second-home owners would also be able to live between countries more easily again.

Prof Benson said pre-Brexit, Britons had been one of the European nationalities that had made the most use of free movement across the continent.

“People who can now move between the UK and Europe tend to be very highly qualified, or they have quite high levels of capital, so they tend to be middle class and above.”

Her research among Britons living in France had revealed how European mobility had opened doors for people who were neither wealthy nor highly educated.

Examples included workers who first experienced life abroad through trade union exchanges, and British women who were first-generation university graduates and struggled to find suitable employment at home but secured jobs matching their qualifications elsewhere.

EU membership had “broadened people's horizons about what was possible”.

However, even if Britain eventually rejoined the EU, some consequences of Brexit could not be reversed.

“I have always said that there will be a really long tail to Brexit,” she said, adding that the lost opportunities for younger people were particularly difficult to measure.

Prof Benson also highlighted the emotional impact on British residents in Europe who lost their EU citizenship.

For many, European identity was not simply about membership of a political institution, but reflected a sense of belonging developed through living in another European country.

She said the loss of that citizenship had helped motivate British residents across Europe to campaign together to protect their rights. 

It had also fostered a sense of solidarity between the estimated 1.2 million Britons in the EU and the three million EU citizens in the UK. 

“It was their shared sense of European identity that was really at the core of that, as well as the kind of injustice of having your rights changed and taken away from you.”