Citizens’ rights

The freedom of movement is one of the foundations of the European Union, and many EU citizens and UK nationals moved abroad to live, work or study, back when the UK was a Member State of the EU.

Protecting those who moved abroad has been the first priority from the beginning of the negotiations of the United Kingdom's orderly withdrawal from the EU.

The Withdrawal Agreement concluded between the European Union and the United Kingdom establishes the terms of the United Kingdom's withdrawal. It entered into force on 1 February 2020, after having been agreed on 17 October 2019. 

Who is protected by the Withdrawal Agreement?

The Withdrawal Agreement protects EU citizens and their family members who moved to the United Kingdom before 31 December 2020 (so–called transition period) and guarantees them broadly the same rights they had before the UK withdrew from the EU: they can continue to live, study, work in the United Kingdom and travel freely between the UK and the EU.

The same applies to UK nationals and their family members who moved to an EU Member State before 31 December 2020. They can also continue to live, study, work in their host EU State and travel freely between the UK and the EU.

The Withdrawal Agreement also protects the family members that are granted rights under EU law (such as current spouses and registered partners, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren and a person in an existing durable relationship) to join their family member in the future.

What the Withdrawal Agreement protects?

Residence rights

The substantive conditions of residence in the host State under the Withdrawal Agreement are the same as those under current EU law on free movement.

In essence, EU citizens and UK nationals meet these conditions if they:

• are workers or self-employed in the host State;
• have sufficient resources and sickness insurance;
• are family members of another person who meets these conditions;
• have already acquired the right of permanent residence and are therefore no longer subject to any conditions.

Those protected by the Withdrawal Agreement who have not yet acquired permanent residence rights – if they have not lived in the host State for at least five years – are fully protected by the Withdrawal Agreement, and will be able to continue residing in the host State and acquire permanent residence rights in the host State after accumulating five years of residence.

The Withdrawal Agreement protects all those EU citizens who, on 31 December 2020, were living and working both in the UK and an EU Member State at a time. Their family members and their survivors are also protected.

According to the latest UK data, around 5,7 million EU citizens and their family members were granted a residence status under the Withdrawal Agreement in the UK (most come from Romania, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria and Spain).

Although the deadline to apply for a new residence status under the Withdrawal Agreement passed on 30 June 2021, EU citizens can continue to apply for a new status.

According to latest data, around 1 million UK nationals and their family members reside in their host EU States (most in Spain, France, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands).

To benefit from the rights under Withdrawal Agreement, UK nationals may need to apply for a new residence status in their host EU State, according to each State’s decision to opt for a so-called declaratory or constitutive residence scheme.

These documents assist national authorities in the proper implementation of the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The implementation and application of citizens' rights under the Withdrawal Agreement in the EU is monitored by the European Commission acting in conformity with the Union Treaties. If national authorities fail to properly implement EU laws, the Commission may take legal action against the country in question. If the issue is still not settled, the Commission may eventually refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

UK nationals who believe that the national authorities of an EU country have not respected the rights under the Withdrawal Agreement can seek remedy at national or EU level.

With respect to the rights of EU citizens in the UK, the UK’s Independent Monitoring Authority is granted equivalent powers to those of the European Commission to:

• receive and investigate complaints from EU citizens and their family members;
• conduct inquiries on its own initiative; and
• bring legal action before UK courts on alleged breaches by the UK authorities of their obligations under the citizens' rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Rules of the Withdrawal Agreement on citizens' rights can be relied upon directly by EU citizens in UK courts and by UK nationals in the courts of the EU Member States. Any national law provisions that are not consistent with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement will have to be disapplied.

Annual reports from the European Commission

The European Commission on an annual basis informs the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights established by the Withdrawal Agreement, on the implementation and application of Part Two (Citizens’ Rights) of the Withdrawal Agreement in the European Union, as required by Article 159 (2) of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The information includes latest statistical data and covers the number and nature of complaints received by the European Commission as well.

The UK’s Independent Monitoring Authority adopts own reports on the implementation in the United Kingdom.

Joint EU-UK reports on the implementation of residence rights

The joint reports provide an overview of implementation progress in relation to new residence status and issuance of residence documents evidencing such status for EU citizens in the UK and for UK nationals in EU Member States.

Following adoption of the first Annual report in 2021, joint reports are no longer adopted.