The UK's Brexit minister, Dominic Raab, is in Brussels this Tuesday 21 August, where he will meet the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier.
The two are due to discuss the future bilateral relations between the EU and UK, and the British EU withdrawal agreement which should notably include a solution to the thorny issue of re-establishing a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This latter issue was addressed last week at the resumption of technical level negotiations.
The negotiators' objective is to reach a political agreement by the European Council at the end of October so that the agreement can be ratified in time for 29 March 2019, the scheduled Brexit date.
At the European Parliament, the steering group on Brexit has furthermore warned against a possible differentiated treatment – by alphabetical order – of European Union citizens already residing in the UK, as part of the post-Brexit procedure for obtaining 'settled status'.
"Such an approach would be complicated, arbitrary and could create unnecessary confusion and uncertainty for millions of EU citizens already living in limbo. Those at the end of the alphabet may not get their status confirmed until the end of 2020 or later", the group steered by Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) criticised in a press release on Thursday 16 August. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)