In light of the political uncertainty in United Kingdom, the Romanian Parliament should adopt laws addressing the basic issues that will ensue in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Is important to remind our Parliament that under a “no-deal Brexit”, EU law will cease to apply to the United Kingdom on the day the UK leaves the EU and for Member States the UK will become a third country.
In response to that situation, acts regulating the following issues should be immediately addopted:
• British citizens’ right of residence;
• posting of UK workers to Romania
• the ability of British citizens to and work and carry on economic activity in
the Romania
• recognition of professional qualifications gained in the United Kingdom; and
• the conduct of economic activity in Romania by British financial institutions.
Rights of residence of British citizens in Romania
The issue of short-term residence of British citizens in EU Member States will be regulated at the EU level. It is planned that British citizens will be exempt from visa requirements when travelling to Schengen countries if staying for no longer than a total of 90 days in any 180-day period, but Romania is not a Schengen country.
Generally, however, from the date the UK leaves the EU, British citizens will lose those rights derived from the freedoms available to citizens of EU member states. The legislation to be addopted should be aimed at preventing a situation where British citizens and their family members would be treated as foreigners living in Romania illegally.
Under the future legislation, is advisable that the residence in Romania of a British citizen and his/her family members who, on the basis of freedom of movement in the EU, shouldl be considered legal at least until the end of 2020. The aim of this “interim period” is to enable British citizens and their family members to file applications for temporary or permanent residence permits.
The National Bank of Romania (“NBR”) issued a press release on 12 February 2019 in respect to a potential no-deal Brexit impact on the banking, payment and electronic money issuance services in Romania, stating that the UK entities providing banking and payment services as well as electronic money issuance services in Romania, either directly or through their branches, will no longer benefit from the single EU passport regime, and will be treated as third-country entities.
Without a license from the NBR, the activity of the Romanian branches of the UK entities, and the direct provision of services in Romania by these entities, will cease as of the date of UK’s withdrawal.
NBR advised the users of services provided by these entities in Romania to contact the relevant service providers to check if they have a strategy for avoiding disruptions in the relationships with customers and ensuring the service continuity, or terminating the contractual relationships, as the case may be.
