BREXIT TALKS BEGIN
WITH Brexit negotiations starting on Monday, expats reminded the UK government they ‘are also there to represent the 1.2 million UK citizens most directly impacted by Brexit - those who live in the EU and have been in limbo for a year waiting for talks to start’.
Members of the British in Europe coalition said they expect UK negotiator David Davis to stick to Theresa May’s repeated pledge to make sorting out these citizens’ post-Brexit rights - based on reciprocity - her highest priority.
Before the talks got underway, Mr Davis said he was determined to build a ‘strong and special partnership’ with the EU.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said he wanted to agree key priorities and a timetable for discussions.
The UK is set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019 following last year's referendum vote.
Jane Golding, the Berlinbased Chair of British in Europe, said they have been ‘talking directly to the EU negotiators who have consulted on their negotiating directives, which they have changed to take on board many of the coalition’s concerns’.
“The result is that the EU offer now gives us almost everything we need and abides by a core principle which both sides should respect - that the rights of citizens in place before Brexit (including the three million EU citizens in the UK) should remain unchanged,” she said.
Mrs Golding noted that for the past year Theresa May ‘has repeatedly refused to make a unilateral offer to the three million EU citizens in the UK’.
“She has said this is to protect the rights of the 1.2 million UK citizens in Europe but we have no detailed information on what that might mean,” she said.
“The EU offer gives plenty of detail and goes almost all the way to guaranteeing all our rights but everything depends on how the UK decides to respond. We expect the UK, which has said it will be guided by the principle of reciprocity, to respond with similar magnanimity.”
Sue Wilson, the Valenciabased Chair of the Bremain in Spain group, which forms part of the coalition, stated: “We are impatient to hear exactly what Theresa May's 'generous offer' for EU/UK citizens is going to look like.”
Mr Davis and Mr Barnier gave a joint press conference at the end of day one of the talks in Brussels on Monday evening.
It was revealed that the initial focus will be on expat rights, a financial settlement and other separation issues.
Discussions aimed at preserving the Good Friday Agreement and common travel area in Ireland will also begin, although Mr Davis suggested these issues may not be settled until the end of the process, when the UK's trade relationship with the EU is settled.
According to the BBC, the UK had wanted talks on its future relationship with the EU to be considered from the outset, but Mr Barnier said this would only happen once the European Council decided sufficient progress has been made on the other issues.