Beata Szydło says she spoke to British PM about support for Polish community and more cooperation between the countries

The Polish prime minister has spoken to Theresa May about the possibility of teaching Polish as a language in British schools during a bilateral meeting between the two leading politicians.

Beata Szydło said she also raised the possibility of cooperation between universities in the two countries with hopes for a Polish chair at Cambridge University and more student exchanges.

“We also spoke about the support for the Polish community, we spoke about the possibility of teaching Polish as a language in British schools, we spoke about many different things that are important to those Polish people who live in the UK,” she said, after a meeting in which senior cabinet ministers also met their Polish counterparts in Downing Street.



May and Szydło stressed that the meeting was about the bilateral relationship between the two countries, covering areas such as defence, but they did discuss Brexit, with the status of Polish citizens in Britain cited as a priority.

“I have reiterated my plan to guarantee the rights of Poles and other Europeans currently living in the UK, so long as the rights of British citizens living across the EU are guaranteed,” said May.



“I hope we can reach an early agreement on this issue, providing certainty for Polish citizens here and British people living in Europe.”

Szydło agreed that the issue was the most important to her, but said there could only be talks after article 50 is triggered in March, dashing hopes of an earlier deal.

“We are all wondering how this process will go. We are all trying to decide about our priorities and objectives but the negotiations will be held between the EU and the UK,” Szydło said of Brexit.

“Poland – as a member of the EU – considers it very important what objectives and what priorities will be decided. We want the new relations to be built on mutual trust.

“As for reciprocity in terms of the rights and privileges, they have to be negotiated and there needs to be the right balance. This is the condition that will certainly be brought up by Poland.”

I’m one of 3 million EU citizens in the UK. This uncertainty is unbearable | Anne-Laure Donskoy Read more

Although it is likely that the UK will be able to quickly agree to a deal in principle over the situation facing EU citizens in Britain and British citizens abroad, experts said the situation could prove to be a bureaucratic nightmare for the government.

Prof Catherine Barnard, a European law expert at Cambridge University, told the Guardian the issue was how people would prove they had been living here ahead of a cutoff date, or for five years, if that is required.

“The simplest thing is that anyone who is in the UK now is given the right to stay. I’m sure that won’t wash because you will still have to prove who is here,” she said.

“The more likely solution is that anyone who has been here five years is given the right to stay – which sounds good until you think of the practical implications. How do you know who has been here five years?”

She said it might be easy for someone working in the NHS or for a university to provide the paperwork to prove their employment and thus residence over time, but much more difficult for a seasonal worker, who may have not had a written contract, or not kept one from years ago.

Moreover, she said that applying for permanent residence required filling out “an 85-page form, at the moment”, which was a “tremendous deterrent”. In the future, applying as a non-EU national for indefinite leave to remain will cost cost over £1,500.

Barnard has given evidence to a House of Lords committee over protecting the acquired rights of EU citizens including access to healthcare, pensions and education. She argued it would be better to create a new system under which EU citizens could stay without paying, but argued it could still be complex.



Dave Spokes, of the Expat Citizen Rights in EU campaign group, said thousands of members had raised concerns about their access to healthcare across the continent.

One member living in Spain, Francesca Knight, said she was was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006, after moving on her own to Spain in 2004, aged 60.

“I live in the mountains at 831 metres above sea level and can have temperatures of minus 12 and a metre of snow in winter months. My plan had been to live here for about five years and then move to a village, closer to amenities. Sadly, those plans have been drastically changed due to the property crash and I am now unable to sell. I dread the day when I can no longer drive, as I live 2km from a village, with no constant neighbours around me, just Spanish holiday homes,” she said.

“My attendance allowance pays for a weekly cleaner to do the jobs I can no longer do. But if I lose the reciprocal health arrangement, I would have no choice but to leave Spain and return to the UK, penniless.” She said many others were in similar situations.

“The last thing I want to do is move back to the UK. After living here for over 12 years this is now my home. I am too old to consider the prospect of the upheaval and hardship should the need of an enforced return arise.”