EU citizens “interested in their rights” invited to hold UK politicians to account

A citizens rights organisation is asking EU nationals living in the UK and Gibraltar to apply for a panel fighting for their rights.

The new panel will help advise the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA).

The independent body set up after Brexit, has powers to scrutinise and hold to account UK public bodies who are not upholding the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens.

How does the IMA panel work?

The future panel aims to hear directly from people from each of the 27 EU countries, and the EEA EFTA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Those on the panel will meet virtually twice a year with IMA chief executive, Dr Kathryn Chamberlain, and others from the organisation. As well as sharing their insights of life in the UK and Gibraltar, the panel members will also provide feedback on the IMA’s work.

Dr Kathryn Chamberlain, IMA chief executive said: “Our new citizens’ panel is an important way for us to hear directly from EU citizens and is something we have been keen to establish as quickly as possible.

“EU citizens know best about what life in the UK is like after Brexit, what potential difficulties and everyday obstacles they face, and we are keen to hear from them. I’d encourage applications from anyone who has an interest in their rights.”

Potential issues can be submitted through the IMA’s complaints portal.

The IMA doesn’t manage individual complaints, they help build a bigger picture of where things might be going wrong.

How can EU and EEA EFTA citizens join the panel?

Those interested in joining the panel will do so on a voluntary basis.

They do however need to meet criteria such as living in the UK or Gibraltar, being aged 16 or over and from one of the above-mentioned countries.

The aim of the organisation is to have between 60 and 90 members who join on a two-year basis, with the deadline to register interest on 11 June.

Applications can be done by following the instructions on the IMA’s website and completing this survey.

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Andra Maciuca

Andra is a multilingual, award-winning NQJ senior journalist and the UK’s first Romanian representing co-nationals in Britain and reporting on EU citizens for national news. She is interested in UK, EU and Eastern European affairs, EU citizens in the UK, British citizens in the EU, environmental reporting, ethical consumerism and corporate social responsibility. She has contributed articles to VICE, Ethical Consumer and The New European and likes writing poetry, singing, songwriting and playing instruments. She studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield and has a Masters in International Business and Management from the University of Manchester. Follow her on: