IMPACT OF BREXIT ON PORTUGUESE GOANS ELVIDIO MIRANDA
After the referendum on 23rd June, 2016 in which the majority of Britons voted to leave the European Union, it took 9 months and 6 days for British Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger article 50 of the Libson treaty thus formally signalling the break-away of Britain from the European Union after 44 long years and the beginning of a new Britain that once was the Centre of the Commonwealth and had a long history of colonial hegemony. As UK envoy Tim Barrow handed to European president Donald Tusk the letter signalling Britain's formal exit from the European Union on 29th March, 2017 at 1.20 PM GMT, thus began a two-year countdown to Britain's departure from the EU. It would be in the fitness of things to quote Theresa May. She said `we understand that there will be consequences for the UK of leaving the EU. We know that we will lose influence over the rules that affect the European economy. We know that UK companies that trade with the EU will have to align with rules agreed by institutions of which we are no longer a part, just as we do in other overseas markets. We accept that'. She said that it was `a day of celebration for some and disappointment for others'. `The referendum last June was divisive at times. Not everyone showed the same point of view, or voted in the same way. The arguments on both sides was passionate'. She said that Britain could not `cherry pick' during the EU negotiations and that was why it would not remain a full member of the single market. She urged her European partners to help form a `bold and ambitious free trade agreement'. She promised to approach the talks `constructively, respectfully and in a spirit of sincere cooperation and that she wanted a `new deep and special partnership' with the rest of the EU. `This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger, fairer Britain, a country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home'. It is very important to read between the lines on these salient features of her address. In the context of affecting the prospects of Goans in the UK, it is clear that those that are there in Britain for five years and more and those that will complete five years in Britain by 28th March, 2019, it will seem almost certain that they will get permanent residence in Britain and thus they need not fear for their causes. However much depends on the way the European Union accepts Britain's arguments in the new set of rules and regulations that are adduced by both for thrashing out an agreement of how Britain and the EU will continue their new relationship with each other. Since Portugal is a member of the European Union, hence Britain will have to take a conciliatory attitude towards Portugal and hence Portuguese nationals will not be affected much. The coming days will decide how the negotiations progress and what effect, encouraging or discouraging will be on the Goans with Portuguese passports. Geographical proximity of the EU nations to Britain will be an important factor and it it thus expected that British and EU immigration laws will tend to benefit both, thus beneficial to the Portuguese nationals. All in all, Goans with Portuguese passports seem to be in the clear for the time being and it may continue to be in the future. Close to 40,000 Goans wait with baited breath as negotiations proceed which will determine their fate in Britain.
