| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: Department for Exiting the European Union, United Kingdom: Home Office |
|---|---|
| Publisher | GOV.UK |
| Series Title | Policy Paper |
| Series Details | February 2018 |
| Publication Date | 27/02/2018 |
| Content Type | Report |
|
The United Kingdom Department for Exiting the European Union and the Home Office issued a policy paper on the 28 February 2018 EU citizens arriving in the UK during the implementation period, which adjusted and clarified the government’s offer for EU citizens and their family members who arrived in the UK after March 2019 and before the end of the implementation period (transition period). This conceded increased rights to such EU citizens but did not offer precisely the same rights as EU citizens who arrived in the UK before March 2019. In response, the European Parliament Brexit Steering Group issued a Statement on the 28 February 2018 saying 'we cannot accept any form of discrimination between EU citizens who arrive before or after the start of any transition. The full European Union acquis must apply during any transition, including for citizens, and no differentiation can take place. It can certainly not be the case that EU citizens arriving during any transition are forced to accept a lower standard of rights, in particular those relating to family reunion, child benefits and access to judicial redress via the European Court of Justice'. Background One of the key issues being discussed since June 2017 in the initial sequence of Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom was 'citizen's rights'. Ahead of the European Council, Brussels, 19-20 October 2017, United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May wrote an open letter to EU citizens in the UK. Seen as a goodwill gesture Mrs May said that the more than 3 million EU citizens living in the U.K living legally in the country 'will be able to stay'. 'We want people to stay and we want families to stay together. We hugely value the contributions that EU nationals make to the economic, social and cultural fabric of the UK'. The United Kingdom Government published on 7 November 2017 a technical document which set out further details on how a settled status scheme would operate for EU citizens and their families in the UK. The policy paper, called Citizens' rights: administrative procedures in the UK, was part of the negotiations with the European Commission. The European Parliament's Brexit Steering Group later highlighted the need for major issues to be addressed regarding EU citizens rights and branded the proposal as 'inadequate'. At a press conference held early on the 8 December 2017 European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and United Kingdom Prime Theresa May announced that they had reached agreement in principle across the three areas under consideration in the first phase of negotiations for the UK to leave the EU: + protecting the rights of Union citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the Union The agreement was published in the form of a Joint report on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU. On the 7 February 2018 the European Commission published a Position Paper called Transitional Arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement. This translated into legal terms the principles laid down in the European Council Guidelines of 29 April 2017 and 15 December 2017 and in the supplementary negotiating directives annexed to the Council Decision of 29 January 2018. The policy paper Draft Text For Discussion: Implementation Period published by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the 21 February 2018 was the UK's formal response to the European Commission's Position Paper. This document set out the United Kingdom’s approach to the legal text of the implementation period to be provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. |
|
| Source Link | Link to Main Source https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-citizens-arriving-in-the-uk-during-the-implementation-period |
| Related Links |
|
| Subject Categories | Internal Markets, Justice and Home Affairs, Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, United Kingdom |
