The EU’s chief Brexit coordinator has dismissed Theresa May’s claim that changing the colour of passports to blue is a victory for British sovereignty.
Guy Verhofstadt said there is no Brussels legislation that dictates passport colour, adding that Britain could have had any passport colour it wanted while in the European Union.
It comes after Prime Minister Mrs May described the decision to revert to the “iconic” colour of blue as an “expression of our independence and sovereignty” outside of the EU.
But in a message on Twitter on Saturday, Mr Verhofstadt hit out at this claim. He wrote: “There is no EU legislation dictating passport colour. The UK could have had any passport colour it wanted and stay in the EU.”
The Home Office confirmed this week that navy blue passports will be issued once more after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019.
Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis described the return to the traditional blue passport as a “unique opportunity to restore our national identity”.
The burgundy shade, which was introduced in 1988 under EU requirements, will be gradually phased out from October 2019 onwards.
Demands for a return to the blue passport were a major part of the Leave campaign ahead of the EU referendum in June 2016.
Mr Lewis said: "One of the most iconic things about being British is having a British passport.
“So from the first day we leave, new passports will look different and within months they will be very different, because they will be dark blue again.
"We wanted to return to the dark blue passport because we recognise the strong attachment people had to it."
Burgundy passports will still be issued for the first six months after Britain leaves the EU on March 29, 2019, but they will no longer feature any EU markings.
The dark blue version will then come into production in October when the passport is scheduled to be redesigned, as happens every five years.
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Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, said in April that the burgundy passport had been a source of national “humiliation”.
