France and UK clear confusion for Britons abroad

It comes as the UK – finally – issues no-deal planning advice for Britons living in the EU.

France’s Ministry of the Interior has also created advice pages for British residents, with information relating to both a deal and a no-deal. This is in six sections: residency, travel, integration, driving licences, elections, and applying for French nationality.

Connexion has translated the sections, with verification by the British Community Committee of France. The translations are on our website (see here for one of the translations - scroll to bottom of article for further links) , or email news@connexionfrance.com to have the links sent to you.

The British no-deal planning paper states that, in that event, the UK wishes to continue to pay an uprated state pension to eligible Britons living in the EU. This and other matters which the UK has control over would be subject to reciprocity (ie. EU pensioners would need to continue to receive their full pensions in the UK).

The UK also says that, as previously stated, it would aim for healthcare arrangements for its state pensioners in the EU to continue to operate via reciprocal agreements, whether with the EU as a whole or individual member states.

The same would apply to other ‘social security coordination’ matters, such as the right to claim ‘exported’ disability benefits in France or benefit from pension aggregation.

In a no-deal, Britain would continue to seek agreements with EU states to give Britons the right to vote and stand in local elections, as it will also do in the case of a deal. EU citizens in the UK will be able to do so, it says.

Also relevant – as France has previously stated it will look closely at how its citizens are treated – is that the paper confirms that the UK would wish to maintain most of the benefits of the draft withdrawal agreement for EU citizens settled in Britain before Brexit day. “They will be able to stay and carry on with their lives broadly as now,” it says. “They will continue to be able to work, study, and access benefits and services in the UK on the same basis after we exit the EU.”

Rights would, however, be subject to any future UK legal changes also affecting Britons.

This means the same rules and application process for qualifying to stay will apply as in the case of the withdrawal agreement going ahead. EU citizens would be allowed to leave the UK for up to five years without losing the status – the same as under the deal.

There are differences: in the event of no-deal, there would be no transition period and those living in the UK before Brexit would have to apply for ‘settled status’ by the end of 2020 (in the event of a deal, there would be a grace period until the end of June 2021).

There are also more restrictions than under the deal regarding EU citizens bringing family to the UK (see the full UK paper: tinyurl.com/y93optje ).

The French Interior Ministry’s new site for Britons is at tinyurl.com/MinistryPrepares. By and large, it contains no surprises compared to what we have reported in recent editions.

One point of uncertainty is that it states in the section about Séjour (residency rights) that where Britons hold a carte de séjour obtained as EU citizens before Brexit day, they will need to replace this with a different card (as yet not defined) after the end of the transition period if a deal is reached (with a grace period until at least July 2021).

An Interior Ministry source said: “Contacts in the minister’s office confirm it is worth getting a carte now because it will simplify the process for obtaining a new card.” In the case of no-deal, the site says cards obtained before Brexit would have to be exchanged afterwards, according to a
calendar that would be clarified in due course.

The site also contains tips on applying for French nationality, including clarifications for situations such as people who work cross-border in Monaco or Switzerland.