The House of Lords’ European affairs committee has urged the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Suella Braverman, to tackle post-Brexit travel problems, taking also into account issues with border officials as well as the new European Union visa system.
Braverman was asked to address several significant problems related to ...-Brexit rights of the UK as well as EU citizens, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The letter addressed to the UK’s Home Secretary came following an evidence session on May 16, during which the committee heard from representatives of key organisations that represent European Union citizens in Britain as well as Britons in the EU countries.
The committee heard witnesses’ reports that Britons have often experienced issues while travelling between the EU and the UK, taking also into account misunderstanding by Schengen border officials regarding documentation when planning to travel to Schengen Zone countries.
In addition, according to a Travel Weekly report, in one case, it led to an incorrect charge for an alleged immigration offence.
The Committee has called on the home secretary to tighten cooperation with European Commission as well as authorities in EU countries to make sure that guidance to border authorities is made as clear as possible.
According to the Lord Wood of Anfield, acting European Affairs Committee Chair, there continue to be several serious concerns regarding the rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU Member States.
“We are particularly concerned that the backlog that has developed as a result of delays to applications to the EU Settlement Scheme is having a serious impact on individuals who are living in uncertainty, leaving them unable to make the fundamental decisions they need to live their lives, access work or support, or even travel outside of the United Kingdom,” Lord Wood pointed out, according to Travel Weekly report.
In addition, the Committee also stressed that there was still a backlog of a total of 181,000 EU citizens waiting for a decision on their requests for settled status.
In order to ease travel for all passengers from Britain, the Commission of the European Union last month mentioned the new automated checks that will soon become effective at the borders of the EU.
Such comments from the Commission came after the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, stressed that the government is planning to make an agreement with the EU in order to further ease the travel to the block for citizens of the United Kingdom.