May outlines proposals on status of EU nationals

Prime Minister tells EC summit that she wants to offer ‘certainty’

No EU national currently living lawfully in the UK will be made to leave on the day of Brexit under proposals outlined by Theresa May to her European Union counterparts.

The Prime Minister told a European Council summit in Brussels that she wanted to offer “certainty” to the estimated three million EU expats in the UK and ensure that families are not split up by Brexit.

But she made clear that the proposals would be adopted only if the same rights are granted to UK citizens living in the remaining 27 EU states in a reciprocal settlement. And she set up a series of probable clashes with the European Union by suggesting she could set an early cut-off date for residency rights and rejecting a Brussels demand for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to retain powers to enforce rights following Brexit.

Under Mrs May’s plans, unveiled on the eve of the anniversary of the Brexit referendum, EU nationals who have lived in the UK for five years by a specific cut-off date will be given the chance to take up “settled status”, granting them rights to stay in the country and receive healthcare, education, welfare and pensions as if they were British citizens.

Those resident for a shorter period will have the opportunity to stay on until they have reached the five-year threshold.

Those arriving after the cut-off date but before the date of Brexit will have a “grace period” – expected to be two years – within which to regularise their immigration status with a view to later seeking settled status.

The cut-off date is yet to be set, but will come between the day when Britain formally notified Brussels of its intention to quit on April 29 2017 and the day when it finally leaves, expected to be March 29 2019.

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.

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

Other than the different cut-off date, the key point of contention to be thrashed out in talks between Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is likely to be over the question of jurisdiction.

The EU proposals stipulate that the ECJ has “full jurisdiction” for as long as citizens’ rights remain protected under the withdrawal agreement.

Picture: AP. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, walks by as Prime Minister Theresa May speaks with Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during a round table meeting at the EU summit in Brussels.