The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected the appeal of three British citizens who lost their status as EU citizens after the UK's withdrawal from the European Union of Brexit.
The claimants, all British citizens residing in the United Kingdom and in various European Member States, are challenging the Brexit agreement, arguing that it has deprived them of the rights they had exercised and acquired as EU citizens.
Initial requests were rejected by the Court of Justice of the European Union's General Court in June 2021, with the Britons bringing their appeals to the ECJ, which concurred with the original ruling.
The Luxembourg-based high court deemed on Thursday that the British citizens lacked a cause of action.
They ruled that their loss of European status "is an automatic consequence of the sole decision taken by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the Union, not the Withdrawal Agreement or the Council’s decision."
