On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland informed the European Council of its intention to leave the European Union, thus officially triggering the procedure under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.
Accordingly, the United Kingdom’s membership of the EU will end on 30 March 2019.
The Draft Withdrawal Agreement provides for a transition period from 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, during which the United Kingdom will in principle continue to be treated like a Member State in EU law.
The Federal Foreign Office has presented a ministry draft for a transitional Brexit act. The act aims to create legal certainty across the board in Federal law for the transition period after the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.
There is to be a regulation in favour of British nationals who apply for German citizenship during the transition period. As long as the United Kingdom is still a member of the EU or is treated as such during the transition period,
British nationals applying for German citizenship will not have to give up their British citizenship. However, the pertinent date will be not the date on which the application was submitted, but the date on which a decision on citizenship is taken.
In other words, the lengthy period needed to process applications could be to the detriment of British applicants. To avoid this, the ministry draft states that if an application is submitted before the end of the transition period, British citizenship can be retained.
Read more: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/europa/transitional-brexitact/2119778
