EU leaders ‘discussing’ Brexit compromise
Business group suggests post-brexit limit of three months before EU citizens are asked to go home
EU LEADERS are considering a Brexit compromise that would allow Britain access to the single market for goods while ending freedom of movement of people.
In the first sign of divergence between EU member states and Michel Barnier, Brussels’ chief negotiator, leaders are expected to sound out Theresa May about a compromise at a summit in Salzburg next month. However, the deal would come at a price, as it would involve Britain accepting all future EU environmental and social protections, which Eurosceptics say is “not Brexit”.
Downing Street is understood to be cautiously optimistic that leaders of the EU27 countries are finally engaging with Mrs May’s Chequers plan for Brexit after Mr Barnier had previously dismissed it as unworkable. The European Commission declined to com- ment on the plan, but did not deny that member states “may be discussing it”.
Until now, Mr Barnier has insisted that Britain cannot “cherry pick” parts of EU membership, such as access to the single market, while rejecting others, such as freedom of movement.
However, member states are considering allowing Britain to remain in the single market for goods if it is prepared
EU CITIZENS who come to the UK after Brexit should be kicked out after three months if they are not contributing to the economy and society, Britain’s largest business lobby group has recommended.
The CBI, which has advocated keeping the UK closely tied to the EU, has urged the Government to introduce a system of compulsory registration for people arriving from Europe. In order to stay in Britain for longer than three months, they would have to prove they were working, studying or were selfsufficient.
Freedom of movement was arguably the most important issue of the EU referendum campaign and the Government is yet to spell out exactly how the post-brexit immigration system will work.
The CBI wants ministers to roll out an “open and controlled” system which would allow businesses to recruit the people they need while also commanding the confidence of the British public.
The group’s plan would see the government allow businesses to prioritise local recruitment over foreign workers if unemployment in specific professions reached a certain level.
Under the terms of the CBI’S plan the net migration target would also be scrapped and funding linked to immigration would be reformed to ensure schools and hospitals received extra cash in areas with increased demand.
Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI, said that while “freedom of movement will be ending”, the UK must get its new immigration system correct or risk “having too few people to run the NHS, pick fruit or deliver products to stores around the country”.
He said: “This is no longer a theoretical debate – it’s about the future of our nation. False choices and sloganeering must be avoided at all costs.
“Openness and control must not be presented as opposites. Public attitudes towards migration and the impacts it has on communities are far more nuanced.
“Scrapping blunt targets, ensuring all who come to the UK contribute and using the immigration dividend to support public services will add to public confidence.”
The CBI has consistently pushed for the Government to pursue a soft Brexit.
Earlier this year it warned the economic benefits of diverging from EU
‘It’s about the future of our nation. False choices and sloganeering must be avoided at all costs’
rules and regulations would be “vastly outweighed” by the costs of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc. The group has previously called for the UK to remain in the EU customs union, placing it at loggerheads with Brexiteers.
The CBI published its latest recommendations in a new report in which it argued that a system of compulsory registration of EU citizens would be “an important step towards delivering control” of the UK’S borders.
The report said that “uncertainty about the number of people entering or leaving the UK fatally undermines” public confidence in official immigration statistics.
The UK reintroduced exit checks in 2015 for people leaving, but it has not previously required EU citizens to register when they enter the country.
The CBI argued that registering EU citizens would allow the Government to ensure they are contributing to the economy and society “if they want to stay for a longer period of time”.
However, it cautioned the Government would have to learn the lessons of the Windrush scandal when it designed such a system “to ensure that EU citizens are treated as people rather than numbers”.
Theresa May has long maintained that Brexit will mean the end of freedom of movement, and ministers have tasked the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) with conducting an in-depth assessment. The Government is expected to set out its post-brexit immigration plan once the MAC report is published in September.
The CBI also warned the Government against simply copying the existing immigration rules for non-eu citizens when it comes up with its new plan for people coming to the UK from Europe after Brexit.
It said a new system for EU immigration must be created because “extending the current non-eu immigration system would be entirely unworkable for business”.