The Dutch state has decided to appeal against last month’s key ruling in which a Dutch judge referred a case brought by several British citizens who are fighting to keep European citizenship to the European Court.

The appeal will be heard on April 19, Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm, lawyer for the plaintiffs, confirmed to DutchNews.nl.

The five British nationals had asked the Amsterdam court to refer the issue to the Luxembourg court so it can clarify what EU law says about citizenship.

In his ruling on February 7, the presiding judge Floris Bakels agreed to ask the European court preliminary questions about what the consequences of a Brexit would be for EU citizenship and the rights which EU citizenship brings.

However, lawyers for the Dutch state argue there is a possibility that the questions could be declared inadmissible, since the Brexit negotiations are still ongoing. In addition, they say they have ‘serious doubts over the admissibility of the planned… questions’ because the dispute is hypothetical.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for legal fees has topped €67,000 within three days – meeting the target.