May’s offer criticised

Theresa May’s offer on residency rights for EU citizens following Brexit is “a first step, but not sufficient”, the president of the European Commission has said.

Jean-Claude Juncker’s comment came after the Prime Minister accepted that her proposals, which envisage a “settled status” for EU nationals, will be contested by Brussels, with battle lines likely to be drawn over jurisdiction and the cut-off date for eligibility.

Meanwhile the UK offer was dismissed as “pathetic” by a group campaigning for an estimated three million European expats living in the UK.

Under the proposals which Mrs May outlined to fellow leaders at a Brussels summit on Thursday, settled status will be available to all EU nationals who have been in the UK for five years, granting them the same rights as British citizens to healthcare, education, welfare benefits and pensions.

Those with a shorter period of residency will be able to stay on to reach the five-year threshold and those arriving after a yetto-be-defined cut-off date will have a “grace period” to regularise their status.

Jean-Claude Juncker.