The Minister of the Interior, Jan Hamáček met with representatives of Parliamentary parties to discuss the Brexit bill, which is supposed to protect Brits living in the Czech Republic in case the UK leaves the EU with no deal on March 28th.
At the meeting, all parties confirmed their support to fast-track the bill. The Lower Chamber received a norm affecting relations between the Czech Republic and the UK from the government a week ago. The government’s proposal allows for a temporary period until December 31st, 2020, during which British citizens would be treated the same as if they were EU citizens in 18 specific areas.
Prior to the meeting, some opposition parties announced they would support the bill as it is reciprocally beneficial for Czechs living in the UK. There are some 40,000 Czech citizens living in Britain and approximately 8,000 British citizens in the Czech Republic.
Other EU member states are working on a similar bill as well. However, as put by Ambassador Nick Archer, the Czech bill is so far the most generous for Brits out of all member states.
