Blue badge & Brexit

forgoodnesssake

I am assuming that after December 31st this year the blue parking badge will no longer cover UK citizens in other European countries?

In which case it is likely to be a different scenario in different countries; some may accept it and some may not.  Is there any guidance on this anywhere?  or like many things re Brexit, it just hasn't been thought about...

Tori_Scope

Good question @forgoodnesssake! I'm not sure what the answer is. I found this article, asking whether French blue badges will still be valid in the UK, which states that:

On November 13 2018, the European Commission issued a notice on ‘travelling between the EU and the United Kingdom following withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU’ which stated that “there is no certainty that authorities in the EU and in United Kingdom will maintain the usual practice of mutual recognition of each other’s parking cards for people with disabilities. “This will be a matter for the discretion of these authorities.”

People with disabilities should therefore contact the relevant authorities in advance to avoid problems, an EU source said. A UK government source said discussions are on going with the EU to negotiate continuation of the current reciprocal arrangements in the future. The UK government has stated that it is confident of this being agreed as it is of mutual benefit but says that, if needed, the UK would seek bilateral agreements with individual states on recognition of the badges.

There are some older articles from a few years ago that suggest you'd still be able to use the blue badge after Brexit, but those may well be out of date now. 

janer1967

Good question there no doubt we wont know until after the event and hopefully by then we may be able to travel

Parrot123

Aye when will we know,,?????

woodbine

There are many things that haven't yet been sorted out, I suppose they are concentrating on a trade deal first and foremost, but it will be interesting what happens about travel to Europe and the EHIC, I doubt anybody in Whitehall has even given blue badges a thought.

soconfused

My passport expires in 4 months and I am off to Spain for xmas. I need to be back on the 31st because less than 6 months left and they won't be allowed - apparently passports over 9.5 years old won't be either - which is the same thing 

Ross_Scope

Hope you enjoy Spain @soconfused, what part are you going to?

woodbine

Heres an update, you will need 6 months on your passport to travel to the EU, the EHIC will not be valid from 01/01/21 and you will need adequate insurance, when entering eu country from 01/01 you will need to show your return ticket at passport control and prove you have enough money with you for your stay, all of which could cause long delays.
On a more positive note the amount of duty free you can bring into the UK will increase from 01/01/21
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/duty-free-extended-to-the-eu-from-january-2021

Ross_Scope

woodbine said:

On a more positive note the amount of duty free you can bring into the UK will increase from 01/01/21
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/duty-free-extended-to-the-eu-from-january-2021

You know what they say, every cloud has a silver lining