🇪🇺 EU Citizens’ Gathering 2026 comes to Birmingham
Under the theme “EU citizens at work”, this year’s Gathering explored the contribution of EU citizens to the UK labour market and wider society. Discussions focused on opportunities and challenges facing EU citizens across the private sector, public services and trade unions.
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Generously hosted in the surrounds of the University of Birmingham's Arts department, the morning of the Gathering heard from panellists Roberto Costa (President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and entrepreneur), Peter Byrne (European Economic and Social Committee), Alicja Kaczmarek (CEO of Centrala), Gelsica da Gloria, NHS worker and founder of Youth for Inclusive Europe, Dr Konstantinos Kollydas, AI Researcher and Stuart Richards, representative of the Trades Union Congress. Stuart provides an insight into EU workers in UK here.
Just before the workshops, Laura Popescu, the Romanian Ambassador to the UK, gave an overview of the contributions of Romanians to the UK economy and society.
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The event, organised in collaboration with the3million and the University of Birmingham, also featured an update on the EU Voices capacity-building programme delivered by the3million and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, supporting organisations working with EU citizens across the UK.
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Time to think - space to collaborate
Across the day a series of community led workshops offered the space for community leaders to share insights, network and debate. The workshops organised ranged from Working together towards equity, inclusion and diversity; Academic insights on EU citizens in the UK; Promotion of European languages and culture; Rights at work: dealing with precarious employment to EU-UK youth opportunities (Youth Mobility, Erasmus+); Supporting EU citizens' democratic engagement; EU-UK research cooperation.
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The afternoon of the annual Gathering provided an opportunity to reflect on the future of EU–UK relations. Miranda Biddle, CEO, Independent Monitoring Authority and Michal Meduna, EU co-chair of the Specialised Committee on Citizens' Rights presented their reflections and shared insights on the progress made on the implementation of agreements to date and the challenges ahead.
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Providing the input of the European Parliament, Evin Incir MEP spoke to the gathering reaffirming that people-to-people connections remain at the heart of the EU–UK partnership.
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MEP Incir's intervention was a powerful reminder of the need to put diversity and inclusion at the core of our work. Find a snapshot of her thoughts here:
Following an exchange to reflect on his career as a diplomat, EU Ambassador Pedro Serrano together with Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, Dr Stephen Montefort, Maltese High Commissioner to the UK, Maike Tribbels, EEAS, Moritz Clauder, Young European Ambassador and Jack Puddle, Director of Research, British Future discussed the outlines of where the EU-UK relationship stands.
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The view from Birmingham
In his own address to the event, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, highlighted the positive contribution the hundreds of thousands EU citizens make to Birmingham and the wider region.
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This year’s #EUCitizensGathering reaffirmed our shared commitment to ensuring that EU citizens in the UK feel informed, empowered and supported.
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"Birmingham is home to a thriving community of EU citizens who benefit from the region’s impressive dynamism. It was a privilege to join the EU Citizens’ Gathering, EU citizens in the UK bring highly valuable contributions to the communities in which they live".
Pedro Serrano, EU Ambassador to the UK
EUD
A sincere thank you to all participants, speakers and workshop moderators who contributed to the success of this year’s event.