UK may curb EU citizens' rights post-Brexit, Guardian reports

The UK will tighten its immigration laws as part of its withdrawal from the European Union, restricting workers' rights to stay in the country and narrowing the definition of family members qualifying to live there, according to a leaked Home Office document seen by the Guardian.

Its 82-pages are stamped "DRAFT OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE."

The process would begin with the introduction of an immigration bill, followed by an implementation period of "at least two years" and a final phase of toughening up the rules, the Guardian said.

Currently, every EU citizen can live anywhere in the region for three months, so long as he or she has a valid identity card or passport. Beyond that, a person may have to register within a reasonable time, depending on local regulations. All are considered equal as workers, regardless of which country they hold their job in.

"Our departure from the EU means the end of rights-based, unconditional free movement, but not the end of EU migration," the document said. "The difference will be that the government will have the essential components in place to be able to control EU, as well as non-EU migration and to introduce a more selective approach."

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party -- ruling with a minority in the House of Commons -- said in its 2017 manifesto that annual net migration of 273,000 people "is still too high."

The Home Office document said immigration should benefit migrants and people already living in the UK. British employers should wherever possible hire locally.

The government department said it is "minded" to grant highly-skilled workers, with an employment contract of at least 12 months, a UK residence permit for three to five years. For other employees that period may be up to two years.

Wrong for London and Britain

London mayor  Sadiq Khan tweeted that the leaked plans will deter EU migrants and "are a blueprint on how to strangle our economy. Wrong for London & for Britain."

Under the proposals EU citizens would no longer be able to enter the UK using a national identity card. They would have to show a passport. This would take effect "as soon as we leave the EU." 

Family members

The definition of family members also allowed to live in the UK will be tightened.

"We will no longer apply the EU definition of 'extended' family members, where there is virtually no limit on the distance of the relationship between the EU citizen and the extended family member," the Home Office document said. "We propose to define family members as direct family members only (plus durable partners), alligning with the current system for non-EU nationals."

The third round of Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU ended on August 31.  EU leaders will decide in October if  "sufficient progress" has been made in the talks which could then move on to discussion of trade and what relations between the two will be like after the separation, expected in March, 2019.

The UK wants to move talks on to trade but the bloc wants to settle terms of the divorce first, specifically  citizens' rights and Northern Ireland's border with the Republic which will become the only UK/EU land frontier. Additionally it wants to settle how much Britain will pay for commitments made before it leaves the bloc.  

"The Commission is using time as a pressure point against Britain," the UK's Brexit secretary David Davis told parliament on Tuesday. "They are seeking to get money, that is what it is about."

Davis said the UK government has a duty to its taxpayers to "interrogate" any financial claims the EU makes on it "vigorously," echoing comments he made in Brussels last week.

The UK  is expected to release its latest position paper -- on science and innovation -- as part of the Brexit negotiations on Wednesday. 

  (Alistair Holloway, alistair.holloway@wort.lu, +352 49 93 739)