Brexit as an Arbitrary Withdrawal of European Union Citizenship

This Article, however, will challenge the assumption that UK nationals have lost EU citizenship following Brexit because it amounts to an arbitrary withdrawal of citizenship, prohibited by international law. In turn, this Article argues that British nationals should continue to enjoy the rights and status of EU citizens beyond the registration deadlines at the end of 2021. The current public debate, and the Withdrawal Agreement itself, assumes that loss of EU citizenship is the automatic result of Brexit. Currently much of the discussion relies heavily on a narrative informed by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and general principles of international institutional law.

These sources are quite valid for discussing the membership of a state in an international organization, but this narrative overlooks the law on human rights that applies to individuals. This argument is based on the right against arbitrary withdrawal of nationality in international law, and the evolving nature of EU citizenship being assimilated to a quasi-nationality.