French citizens can take satisfaction that their nationality has once again been ranked as the best in the world, while for citizens of the UK, the ramifications of a ‘hard’ Brexit could well sink the quality of their nationality from 8th globally, to 56th (the current position of China). This is according to the latest findings of the Kälin and Kochenov’s Quality of Nationality Index (QNI), which is the only ranking that objectively measures and ranks all the world’s nationalities as legal statuses.

The British Embassy has appointed Louisa Blandy Moreau, as the new British Honorary Consul for the island of Madeira and Porto Santo. Louisa is no stranger to Madeira as she was born in Funchal and is part of the Blandy family, known for their Madeira wine production. Her initial education started in Madeira but then carried on in the UK. She came back to live in Funchal permanently in 2007. She is involved in the family business and carries out the role of Property Manager at Palheiro Village, Palheiro Nature Estate.

the3million and British in Europe agreed to make a joint statement about the failed Brexit deal between the UK and the EU:

Citizens’ rights groups the3million and British in Europe have reacted with anger and disappointment after the Brexit negotiators failed to deliver their promise to agree a deal that would allow people to carry on living their lives in exactly the same manner as before Brexit.

Mr Chris Sainty has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Portuguese Republic in succession to Ms Kirsty Hayes. 

Mr Sainty will take up his appointment in summer 2018.

Portugal is the world’s leading cork exporter, helped by international promotion campaigns such as Intercork III and EU funding, the chairman of the Portuguese cork association Associação Portuguesa da Cortiça (APCOR), João Rui Ferreira, told Lusa news agency.

Portugal has come a long way in recent years to become the world leader in cork exports. But it is now also at the cutting edge of developing technology, competitiveness and industrial dynamism, which has improved its expertise in innovation and human resources, Ferreira said.

On 18 August, the window period to submit public comment on the South African Revenue Services (SARS) and National Treasury’s amended draft tax law proposal to overturn the 183-day tax exemption rule, closed.

“Therefore, South African tax resident employees working outside South Africa (SA) in low-tax or tax-free jurisdictions like Mauritius, Singapore, Cayman Islands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are now holding their breath to hear whether the South African government will do away with the rule or not,” says James Bowling, chief executive officer of Monarch&Co - a leading facilitator of residency and citizenship programmes in hand-picked territories around the globe.

Survey of 5000 Brits in the EU finds losing the right to reside is their biggest Brexit fear.

A survey of more than 5000 British citizens living in the EU has found that 4 out of 5 are worried that Brexit will strip them of their automatic right to live in their country of residence.

The UK Government has consistently said it will not act unilaterally to guarantee the right of 3mn EU citizens to remain in the UK until it has agreement that the EU 27 will do the same for the estimated 1.3mn UK nationals living in the EU.

Expert Market, Europe’s leading B2B marketplace, has conducted new research into the factors that affect thegender pay gap in the EU. By modelling current pay gap trends into the future for five economic factors (hours worked, sector, age, industry and job type), we have identified both the countries and the groups of women who will see the gender pay gap close quickest.
Surprisingly, Romania took the top spot with a potential gender pay gap closure date of 2018 with women aged between 25 and 34, working a skilled manual role within the private hospitality industry most likely to achieve equal pay first.