EU May Keep London Office to Communicate With UK Citizens After Brexit - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union could retain its head office of the UK representation in London to keep in touch with the UK citizens after Brexit, local media reported Thursday, citing leaked documents.

The plan is to keep the Europe House, purchased from the UK Conservative Party in 2010 and located at the Smith Square in the UK capital's Westminster district. Back in 2017, some high-profile Conservative Brexiters reportedly urged the European Union to return the building, which used to be the headquarters of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

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However, a leaked note on Brexit's administrative consequences, seen by The Guardian newspaper, revealed that Brussels wants to keep the benefits of the building and especially its strategic position close to the parliament houses.

"The House of Europe in London is… ideally suited to host a wide range of external events, thanks to its location and meeting facilities, which may also serve as a means of engaging with civil society in the international setting that London will undoubtedly remain," Klaus Welle, the European Parliament’s secretary general, said in a note to the chamber’s leadership, as quoted by the Guardian.

In December, the United Kingdom and the European Union reached a preliminary agreement on the rights of citizens, the financial settlement and the general framework for resolving issues linked to Northern Ireland's border with the Republic of Ireland, as part of the ongoing Brexit talks.

The United Kingdom is expected to leave the bloc in March 2019.