A PRO-Europe campaign group is calling on authorities to guarantee the rights of Oxford’s EU citizens following Brexit.

Members of the Oxford European Association want the city to ‘remain an open and international city’ and in a new Charter for European Rights will officially call on MPs, councillors and local employers to guarantee terms for EU citizens.

The charter will be launched at the group’s annual meeting at Oxford Town Hall tonight.

The government remains in talks over the details of its withdrawal from the European Union, with the UK expected to leave the EU in March next year.

Dr. Ruvi Ziegler, Chair of the Oxford European Association: “It is incumbent on public authorities to ensure that, if the UK leaves the EU, our friends, neighbours, and colleagues who have made their lives in Oxford and elsewhere in the UK will have their existing rights protected; and that they feel welcome in their local communities.”

The group, which was formed after the 2016 referendum result, believes that irrespective of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, the rights of EU citizens should be ‘fully maintained and, indeed, enhanced, to make our democracy more inclusive’.

The charter makes calls for Oxford’s European community to be guaranteed the right to live, work, and study in the UK; retain the right to vote in all local government elections; to be ‘enfranchised’ in national elections and referendums and to be able to register for settled status without onerous proof or excessive cost.

Councillor John Tanner, secretary of the European Association said: “We hear lots of rumours but Poles, Germans, Portuguese and others who have made their homes in Oxford need to know where they stand.

“This charter demands guarantees of the rights of non-British Europeans to study, work and travel after Brexit.

“We want local MPs, councils and employers to sign the European charter and get the British Government to commit to these rights, whatever the outcome of the Brexit talks.”

The meeting will take place at Oxford Town Hall tonight from 7.30pm.