Barnier calls for ‘clarity’ on plans for EU citizens

Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator warns Theresa May her proposals do not go far enough

Theresa May has suffered a fresh rebuff from Brussels over her latest attempt to break the deadlock over the rights of the 3.2 million EU nationals living in the UK after Brexit.

The Prime Minister sought to offer reassurance that, until Britain actually leaves, EU citizens would continue to be able to bring dependent family members to join them in the UK.

She also promised a “streamlined and light touch” system to enable EU nationals who have been resident in the UK for five years to apply for “settled status” giving them indefinite leave to remain.

However, the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned the proposals did not go far enough.

He said the EU remained committed to securing the same level of protection for its citizens as they currently enjoyed under EU law.

“More ambition, clarity and guarantees needed than in today’s UK position,” he wrote on Twitter.

The European Parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, welcomed the commitment to simplify the arrangements for those who wished to remain in the EU but said concerns remained.

“A number of limitations remain worrisome and will have to be carefully assessed,” he said.

Despite receiving a frosty response when she outlined the proposals at the Brussels summit on Friday, the Prime Minister insisted the reaction from some individual leaders had been “very positive”.

Under the plan set out in a Government paper, EU nationals with five years continuous residence in the UK will be able to apply for “settled status”.

Those who have been in the country for less than five years will be allowed to remain and then apply once they have accumulated the necessary five years.

“Under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU,” Mrs May told MPs in a Commons statement.

It is expected that those EU nationals granted “settled status” will be issued with documentation enabling them to access their rights although Downing Street played down suggestions it would mean issuing ID cards.

Picture: Getty Images. Prime Minister Theresa May, second right, stands with First Secretary of State Damian Green, right, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster and DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, left, as DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson shakes hands with...