EU offers UK citizens visa-free travel even with no-deal Brexit

The European Union (EU) agreed to grant UK citizens visa-free access to the bloc in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

“EU ambassadors today agreed that, following Brexit, UK citizens coming to the Schengen area for a short stay [90 days in any 180 days] should be granted visa free travel,” the European Council said in a statement.

In accordance with EU rules, visa exemption is granted “on condition of reciprocity,” the council said.

The UK government stated that it does not intend to require a visa from EU citizens travelling to the country for short stays.

“In the event that the United Kingdom introduces a visa requirement for nationals of at least one member state in the future, the existing reciprocity mechanism would apply and the three institutions and the member states would commit to act without delay in applying the mechanism,” the statement said.

The EU’s proposed new regulation sparked a row with officials in London, as it describes Gibraltar, a UK overseas territory, as a “colony.”

“Gibraltar is not a colony and it is completely inappropriate to describe in this way,” a UK government spokesperson said.

“Gibraltar is a full part of the UK family and has a mature and modern constitutional relationship with the UK [and] this will not change due to our exit from the EU,” the spokesperson added.