Brexit: UK urges EU to uphold rights of British expats

The UK has said the EU is in danger of breaching the terms of the Brexit agreement by failing to uphold the rights of British expats.

Ministers said Britons on the continent risked not being given enough time to register to stay, as procedures were complex and there was little guidance.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said there was a "major imbalance" between the EU and UK's approaches.

Citizens' rights were a key aspect of the terms of the UK's January exit.

In response, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he expected member states to take a "common" approach to honouring the commitments agreed with the UK.

But he said the EU would be "equally attentive" in monitoring the situation in the UK and ensuring EU nationals living there were not discriminated against.

The two sides are currently negotiating the terms of their future economic and security relationship, which they hope will come into force at the start of 2021 - when the current 11-month transition period ends.

The EU has warned that progress has been disappointing and the clock is ticking while the UK has suggested the EU is making unreasonable demands over the shape of a future trade agreement.

• UK-EU trade talks resume ahead of June summit

• UK will refuse any Brexit extension request

• Vulnerable 'struggle with EU settlement scheme'

The latest round of talks is set to conclude on Friday, with the UK government resisting growing calls from some within the EU and opposition parties at home to extend the transition period because of the coronavirus crisis.

The Withdrawal Agreement protects the rights of the roughly three million EU nationals currently resident in the UK and the approximately 1.2 million UK citizens living on the continent who want to stay where they are.

Different EU countries have their own rules on how UK citizens can apply for permanent residence.

But following the first meeting of the joint committee which monitors the implementation of the withdrawal agreement, the UK has gone public with concerns it says some British citizens have over their treatment.

Complex paperwork

In a letter to European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, Mr Gove said there was a "serious risk" that the EU would be in breach of its obligations under the terms of the treaty.

The UK had given EU nationals 27 months to apply for settled status, said Mr Gove, but he added that several EU countries had yet to set out their own plans and some were considering giving overseas residents six months to confirm their status.

He warned UK nationals were not being kept properly informed about what was expected of them and that application processes in many countries were complex, requiring candidates to submit paperwork and attend face-to-face meetings which might not be possible due to the pandemic.

He also suggested the 27 EU member states were proving slow to provide help to vulnerable citizens - and there had already been "localised incidents" in which UK citizens had encountered obstacles in trying to exchange driving licences or to buy property.

"UK nationals living in the EU must be able to rely on the rights the Withdrawal Agreement gives them," said Mr Gove in his letter.

"The Withdrawal Agreement places obligations on the EU as a whole."

The UK government has, itself, faced criticism over its own Settlement Scheme for EU residents, with the immigration watchdog warning in February that some people were finding it difficult to manage and the Home Office had been to slow to respond to concerns.

'Slow progress'

Mr Gove's letter comes amid growing signs of discord in the trade talks ahead of a key meeting next month.

The EU's trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, suggested on Thursday that progress was "very slow" and Westminster had decided that the pandemic was "going to be blamed for all the fallout" from Brexit.

Downing Street rejected his assessment, insisting the UK was approaching the talks "constructively" but the EU needed to understand it was dealing with an "independent state".

Meanwhile, the European Commission has started legal proceedings against the UK for allegedly violating EU law on the free movement of people since 2014.

It accuses the UK of breaching the rights of first-time job seekers from across the continent by preventing them from remaining in the country for at least six months while looking for work.

The UK, which has four months to respond to the Commission's letter, said it was considering its contents.