MAY: EU MIGRANTS CAN STAY IN UK

(But only if Britons living in Europe are protected too)

THERESA May last night told three million EU nationals living in the UK that they can stay for the rest of their lives and enjoy the same rights as British citizens.

the Prime Minister set out a ‘fair and serious offer’ which gives full access to schools, hospitals, pensions and benefits to all those who came to Britain before Article 50 was triggered in March.

But she warned that a ‘cut-off date’ for residency rights for newer arrivals might be earlier than the day in March 2019 when Britain formally leaves the EU. Instead, it will be a matter for negotiation and depends on the EU being reasonable in the Brexit talks.

Mrs May also made clear that the proposals would be adopted only if the same rights were guaranteed to UK citizens living in the other 27 EU states. And she wants Brussels to drop its demand that EU judges at the european Court of Justice oversee the deal.

Mrs May set out her offer at a dinner with EU leaders in Brussels, where she pledged to remain as Prime Minister to see the Brexit negotiations through.

She said she did not want to break up families or force any EU nationals currently living in the UK to leave. She told EU

leaders: ‘The UK’s position represents a fair and serious offer – and one aimed at giving as much certainty as possible to citizens who have settled in the UK, building careers and lives, and contributing so much to our society.’

The Prime Minister also guaranteed that no EU national living legally in Britain on the day the country quits the EU would be forced to leave immediately – even if they arrived after the cutoff point for residency rights.

‘All EU citizens lawfully here at the point the UK leaves will have the opportunity to regularise their status to remain in the country,’ she said.

The offer appears to be a generous bid to protect EU citizens in the UK, while retaining a powerful bargaining chip for the laborious negotiations ahead.

Under Mrs May’s plans, any EU nationals who arrived in Britain before she triggered Article 50 on March 29 will have the right to stay. Provided they have lived here for five years, they will be entitled to the rights of full British citizens for life.

Those who have been resident for a

‘This is a fair and serious offer’

shorter period will be allowed to stay on until they have reached the five-year threshold.

However, there will be a ‘cut-off date’ after which EU nationals who arrive in Britain will no longer automatically get these residency rights.

The EU had wanted this to be the date at which the UK formally leaves in March 2019. However, the Prime Minister said last night that this date would be up for negotiation, and could fall at any point between the Article 50 date and the day the country leaves.

If the cut-off date falls before the date of Brexit, there will be a two-year ‘grace period’ for people who arrive after the cut- off but before Britain leaves the EU. They will be able to use this period to regularise their immigration status with a view to seeking full residency.

This grace period meant Mrs May was last night able to offer a commitment that ‘no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave the country at the point that the UK leaves’.

The introduction of a grace period raises the possibility that large numbers of EU migrants arriving during withdrawal negotiations may be allowed to remain, at least for a few years.

And Mrs May’s proposal leaves questions unanswered over whether individuals with settled status will be permitted to bring in children or spouses, and whether the new status will be subject to conditions other than length of residency. Mrs May also promised that the immigration system will be streamlined, doing away with the 85-page permanent residency application form which has been the subject of loud complaints from EU expats.

It is thought that the UK is reserving the option of setting an early cut-off for residency rights in case there is a late surge of migrants arriving as Brexit approaches. Mrs May said she wanted to provide certainty to those who had built careers and lives in the country as soon as possible.

But she warned that the fate of those who have come since the cut-off date will depend on the EU being reasonable in negotiations.

Mrs May vowed to give reassurance to EU nationals in the UK and to make them a priority in negotiations – in return for a reciprocal arrangement for the one million Britons living in Europe. The Prime Minister told EU leaders: ‘The UK does not want anyone here to have to leave, nor does it want families to be split up.’

But she added that they had to ditch their demand that the rights of EU citizens to live in the UK would fall under the jurisdiction of

‘Cut-off date is not so important’

the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. Mrs May said: ‘The commitment that we make to EU citizens will be enshrined in UK law and will be enforced through our highly respected courts.’

A senior British official told the Mail: ‘We have been clear on the ECJ that we are taking back control of our own laws.’ A full paper detailing how Mrs May’s offer will apply to the spouses and children of EU citizens in the UK will be put before Parliament on Monday.

Despite claims of EU ‘unity’, one leader broke ranks and offered early backing to Mrs May, saying the UK has every right to enforce citizens’ rights in British courts.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said: ‘We would like to have a different situation but it’s the right of Britain to decide how much they will be involved and use the European judiciary.’

She also showed a chink in the bloc’s negotiating stance by saying the ‘cut- off date is not so important’. German Chancellor Anglea Merkel said EU citizens should be ‘offered the most farreaching guarantees’.

Before the dinner, Mrs May was told that while she could set out her position to leaders, all negotia- tions had to go through the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. European Council president Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU leaders, said: ‘It must be clear that [this] is not a forum for the Brexit negotiations.’

At the summit, which will continue this morning, leaders also claimed to have taken a ‘historic step’ towards creating a Brusselsled defence union. In a significant shift towards what critics call an ‘EU army’, leaders said they had taken a step towards ‘deeper integration in defence’.

Member states, including the UK, have been told to submit plans within three months showing how they would react to ‘the most demanding missions’.

European Commission president Jean- Claude Juncker likened Europe’s defence to a princess that ‘is now awakening’.