Britain, EU clash over citizens’ rights
European leaders say May proposal falls short
BRUSSELS — The European Union and Britain on Friday tripped over the first item in their Brexit talks — protecting the rights of each other’s citizens.
While British Prime Minister Theresa May declared that she had offered a “fair and serious” proposal on citizens’ rights, European Union chief Donald Tusk dismissed it as falling “below our expectations.” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said “thousands of questions” remained on the key topic.
The 27 EU leaders demanded many more details on the U.K. proposal to guarantee the rights of the 3 million EU citizens who live in Britain.
May is insisting that the EU needs to give the 1.5 million Britons living on the continent equal respect. She will outline a more detailed proposal next Monday.
Alongside citizens’ rights, the Brexit negotiators will address the bill Britain will have to pay to quit the EU and the border with Ireland.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said May’s move was “not yet the breakthrough” that EU nations were looking for, adding “there is a long road in front of us.”
Exactly one year after British voters chose to leave the EU and after months of political chaos at home, a weakened May sent her team into the Brexit negotiations that began Monday. The issue of citizens’ rights was seen as her strongest point to make an immediate impact.
Many said she missed the mark. “We don’t want to buy a pig in a poke,” said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, calling May’s opening “an extremely vague proposal for something that is incredibly complicated.”
May promised that the fate of EU citizens would be a priority in Brexit negotiations. She laid out benchmarks for their rights and said they should be shielded from excessive harm because of the political divorce.
Under May’s proposal, EU citizens with legal residence in the U.K. will not be asked to leave and will be offered a chance to regularize their situation after Brexit.