A ROMAN TRAVELLING anywhere in the empire from modern-day Carlisle to Damascus was said to have his safety guaranteed by declaring: “Civis Romanus sum.” The Maastricht treaty of 1992 created a similar notion of European citizenship, affording the bearer rights superior to domestic law throughout the bloc, which compel officials, bosses and judges to treat all Europeans as the equals of their compatriots.
From this grand idea spring a thousand small perks, making going on holiday or serving a client abroad effortless. Britons will have plenty of time to consider them as they finger their new dark-blue passports in the non-EU queues at European airports.
Britons who settled on the continent before Brexit will have the rights of citizenship preserved under the Brexit withdrawal agreement. For everyone else, they will drop away as Big Ben strikes 11pm on December 31st. How Britons are treated thereafter will depend on the rules agreed in Mr Johnson’s new deal, the long-standing provisions of European law which apply to all “third-country nationals” from Americans to Zimbabweans, and the migration laws of individual EU states, which change with the political weather. Those holidaying on the continent for a fortnight a year may notice a little more hassle. Those who wish to go for longer—to study, or spend the summer in a...
