LONDON — The European Commission has decided to create an EU-wide biometric residence document for all British nationals living in the bloc by the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

The Commission told POLITICO it wants to ensure British residents in the EU have a “simple, uniform” physical document that helps them prove their residence status and continue to be able to exercise their rights.

This EU-wide document will be issued by the member country in which the applicant resides and will be used only after December 31, when the Brexit transition period is scheduled to end. The details of the plan have recently been laid out in a so-called implementing decision.

“Protecting the rights of EU and U.K. citizens has been one of our main priorities since the beginning of the negotiations with the U.K.,” the Commission said.

The document can be requested by the approximately 1.2 million British people who currently live in the EU and any other Briton moving to the bloc this year.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, it is up to each EU country to decide whether to require U.K. nationals to apply and obtain a document proving their residence rights under the Brexit deal.

Some EU countries have already indicated that they will apply a mandatory registration system, whereas others will automatically declare all eligible U.K nationals as residents. Brits in the latter group of countries are entitled to request a document proving their status.

The EU-wide residence document will have the same format in all member states, and will look like residence permits for other third-country nationals. The only difference would be an “Article 50” mention and an indication of whether it was issued under a declaratory or a registration system.

A London-based diplomat from an EU country said the thinking in Brussels was that a physical card would allow their holders to prove their status and right to access public services in a much easier way than if they were handed a digital certificate.

Jane Golding, co-chair of the campaign group British in Europe, welcomed the Commission’s decision.

“It is of course almost the same as the standard format for third-country national documents but specifies that our status derives from the Withdrawal Agreement,” she said. “We are now waiting to see how EU countries will actually implement the systems by which U.K. citizens will secure their status under the Withdrawal Agreement and these documents, as, in most countries, there is still very little detail about those.”

Identity and residence cards are a common feature in most European countries alongside passports, and are often required when accessing public services.

In contrast, the U.K. government has opted for providing EU citizens in the country with digital proof, through an online platform that requires those with settled or pre-settled status to log in. That decision has been criticized by campaigners for EU citizens’ rights, who argue a digital system makes it harder for them to prove their status when required and might leave them exposed to discrimination by landlords, banks and others.

Former U.K. Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes, who oversaw the start of the government’s EU Settlement Scheme at the beginning of 2018, defended the government’s decision not to give Europeans physical proof of their residence status.

Speaking at an Institute for Government event on Wednesday, Nokes said a digital system was preferable over physical cards, which “must be renewed, are often lost and are easier to forge.” The digital system would also allow Europeans to better protect their personal data rather than handling them every time they are required to show evidence of status, she added.

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