British people living in the European Union could lose the right to live in another EU member state after Brexit, it emerged at the end of talks in Brussels.
Guardian said British officials raised the issue with their European counterparts during three-and-a-half days of intense technical talks. The EU made clear it would not move without a reciprocal offer for European nationals living in Britain that would allow them to move to another EU country and return to the UK.
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including David Davis’s press conference with Michel Barnier at the end of this week’s Brexit talks
The discussions underscore the uncertainty facing nearly 5 million people caught on the wrong side of the Brexit divide, although both the UK and the EU have made citizens’ rights a top priority in Brexit negotiations.
Around 1.2 million British nationals living in the EU would be affected, meaning, for example, a British national currently living in Germany would be unable to move to France, Austria or any other EU member state after Brexit. The outcome could be seen as counter to the EU’s stated aim of allowing citizens to live their lives “as if Brexit never happened”.
Senior EU officials said they were ready to look at the issue, but the UK had to make a reciprocal offer to protect the 3.5 million EU nationals living in the UK, to allow, for example, a German resident in Manchester to return to their home country for a few years and then resume life in the UK.
A UK source close to the negotiations said there was agreement on 50% of the issues on citizens’ rights.
“But we still have doubts about the EU’s plans and their commitment to upholding citizens’ rights,” the source added. “The UK has put a serious offer on the table, but there are significant gaps in the EU’s offer.”
The British government has proposed “settled status” for EU nationals, but this would be lost if a person left the UK for more than two years, unless they could prove they had strong ties.
The EU is seeking an open-ended guarantee that would allow European citizens to resettle in Britain after an indefinite period living in another country.
“We would start from the assumption that in order to maintain the right of EU citizens to move around the EU27, this would require the UK to reciprocate by allowing EU citizens to continue to moving around freely,” a senior EU official said. “This is is a subject of negotiations.”
The issue emerged during detailed talks on protecting citizens’ rights, a politically sensitive issue that touches employment, healthcare to pension rights and education.
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