The EU said we should all keep our existing rights and there shouldn’t need to be any change but May insisted EU Citizens had to register and prove lawful residence to get settled status (less than EU PR) so as it’s reciprocal, we’ll probably have to too. Which is why people should check that they meet the criteria as both sides are very careful to say that rights will be maintened for those who are lawfully resident. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone official discussing the matter leave that adjective ‘lawfully’ out.
There would have had to be registration after brexit in any case, or there would have been no way of identifying the pre-brexit settlers who are here legally, from the post-brexit arrivals and the one’s who’ve been here for a while but never met the legal criteria. France suggested a long time ago that it would make the process simple and people would probably be given a two year window to do it. I thought the fuss was that May wanted to start a system of registration on arrival during the transition period, and nothing is supposed to change until the end of the transition period. Although the transition period is looking more and more unlikely.
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Not to point to fine a point on it - about bloody time! They’ll all be scrambling for their 183 day compliance spreadsheets…:-
Well Simon, you laugh, and I was quite blasé about it myself, but I looked at the current criteria and to be honest it gave me a bit of a jolt, I might be scrambling myself.
If you’re self employed it says you have to produce:
Justificatif de votre activité : tous documents sur l’exercice régulier, effectif et durable de votre activité, comme par exemple, selon sa nature et la situation :
immatriculation aux registres légaux (registre du commerce et des sociétés ou répertoire des métiers),
affiliation à des organismes professionnels et à des organismes de sécurité sociale,
souscription d’assurances,
procès-verbal de nomination,
bail professionnel,
factures d’achat de matériels,
contrats de ventes, contrats de prestations,
formulaire de déclaration de chiffre d’affaires,
livre des recettes et des achats, etc.
In fact I have sod all business paperwork apart from invoices, and invoices are the one thing it doesn’t seem to ask for! I don’t buy anything except computer consumables and I don’t keep receipts. A few customers send bons de commande but most are regular clients and they simply send an email saying ‘can you translate the attached documents please’. Am I seriously going to have to go back five years and print off literally thousands of emails, most of which I’ve deleted in any case?
All I can conveniently come up with is professional memberships and declarations of turnover.
Not panicking exactly, but not feeling quite so blasé either.
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All this misery and headache because people in UK “wanted their Britain back”!!!a*
And, of course they will not.
Every one wants their cake and eat it.
They’ve been checking people’s residence status more carefully in France for a few years now, Barbara - not just since brexit. The fact these things are done at a departmental level mean that there can be huge differences in procedure between different departments but I know that they’re more careful than they used to be in the Charente, for instance. People who’ve previously successfully claimed things they shouldn’t have been able to have suddenly been refused renewal of them or had the standard CAF ‘prove your right to stay letter’ and payments stopped for months while it’s checked (even when they do have the right). New entrants to PUMa seem to be checked against the residence criteria more thoroughly than they used to be in the old CMU days.
I think the more the UK has had publicity about how they don’t check whether people are allowed to be there according to EU freedom of movement rules, France has realised that they haven’t always done it either and have been getting more strict. I noticed that there was a furore when not being lawfully there (exercising treaty rights) became a reason for removal under UK law (abuse of treaty rights) but not many people commented when France quietly implemented the same law not long after the UK did.
A lot of the EU member states still have to catch up with implementing the full EU laws into their domestic law.
It’s already possible to register arrivals as residents at the 3 month point in EU law but it can be classed as discriminatory if locals don’t have to register their presence too. Some member states have everyone register in a new area when they move and so it’s not discriminatory in their cases to make EU Citizens do the same.
I know Spain have made it a requirement to register and get a residence certificate over the last few years but I have no idea whether locals have to register when they move too (if not, it’s discriminatory, much like it was for France when they implemented different rules for inactive non French EU Citizens joining the healthcare system, which was eventually resolved).
The UK can’t do it while still an EU member state (or still being in the single market and customs union as they want to be in transition) because they don’t make British nationals register when they move to live somewhere (and this is the EU Citizens’ campaign group’s objection to it). They also don’t have a national ID and I think they’ll need one otherwise they’ll be discriminating every time they ask someone they think is foreign for ID, even though a requirement under the freedom of movement laws is that you have a valid passport or national ID. If they don’t spot check locals for ID (and how can they if they don’t have to have one?) then they can’t spot check other EU Citizens.
France can’t do it either because it’s not actually obligatory in France to have a national ID card, though in practice, most people get one. Gendarmes can ask for ID if they have reason to and hold you for four hours until you prove who you are (but this can just be via someone vouching for you) but even then, they can’t hold you beyond that - all they do is make a note that you were stopped and didn’t prove who you are or where you lived. They have to have some other reason to hold you for longer.
People who move to Germany have to register at their address and until that formality is complete it is almost impossible to carry out even the simplest of tasks. In Holland you are meant to carry photo ID with you at all times. For British visitors this would usually be a passport but I believe a photo driving licence showing your signature is also accepted. Checks are carried out, especially at railway stations and other hubs.
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Worth remembering all you naughty people that if you’re arrested and/or charged you have the right to be informed of the reasons for your arrest in a language you understand and you must be provided with an interpreter if you need it.
https://e-justice.europa.eu/fileDownload.do?id=48b1febe-82b7-4346-84b7-526faaf34cb8
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Can’t resist asking…do you speak from experience Simon ? 
Seriously, this is interesting to know, I am one of those people who break out in a cold sweat if I have a gendarme’s car behind me for any length of time. Goodness knows how I would cope if they started questioning me ! At least I now know if I have been naughty I can call on help.
Thanks Simon
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It’s EU law. Directive 2010/64/EU - not adopted into the penal code until 2013, I believe.
'Article 2
Right to interpretation
- Member States shall ensure that suspected or accused persons who do not speak or understand the language of the criminal proceedings concerned are provided, without delay, with interpretation during criminal proceedings before investigative and judicial authorities, including during police questioning, all court hearings and any necessary interim hearings.’
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:280:0001:0007:en:PDF
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I never liked having police behind me in uk nor having them draw up alongside at traffic lights…and found myself mentally checking my seatbelt…wondering how I might explain the rubbish accumulated in my passenger side footwell…stopping singing full blast and turning down my radio…here I’m just the same…is it not enough to always be carrying and never leaving home without uk passport…uk driving licence…French insurance registered to French address in my handbag…???
Not yet ! :-)
I was like thhat in the UK too, Helen - and I was married to one for eighteen years 
I’m still the same here. Mind you, those gendarmes can look pretty scary, armed and all. Though we get pretty dishy ones too so that helps the nerves go away if you ever do have to deal with them up close
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I spotted a couple in my local super u once…found myself checking which lane My shopping trolley was in…! Lol…x
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David, I am not worrying what Britain will be able to provide for us as we are intending to apply for French citizenship.
What concerns me is that if the EU are not happy with what is offered to their citizens and Theresa May continues to be adamant about her requirements for settled status, it could be a red line for the EU and lead to a hard Brexit.
Simon, I was charged and I had not been naughty!
Morning Jane…just a tongue-in-cheek comment. I’m pretty sure you’re an angel - I simply wanted to let people know there’s no need to feel isolated or lost when faced with a difficult situation. 
Have a lovely Sunday.
Barbara, they can keep “their” Britain, as it is not the same as mine.
I had a French friend who was my official witness to ensure that I understood everything and that the gendarmerie did not take advantage of any misunderstanding I might have.
Unfortunately, she could not change the initial misunderstanding that they made.
Debra, I don’t think my neighbour who they shot dead whilst searching for him to prevent him from suicide, really cared whether they were dishy or not.