THERESA May’s Brexit offer to the three million EU citizens living in the UK is “below expectations,” the President of the European Council has said.
Donald Tusk said the Prime Minister’s proposal to give Europeans who have lived in the UK for five years a “settled” immigration status would leave EU citizens worse off. “It’s obvious that this is about reducing the citizens’ rights,” Tusk told reporters of his “first impression” of May’s offer. “Our role in negotiations is to reduce this risk.”
May insisted her proposal was a “fair and serious offer”.
“Citizens from EU countries who have come to the United Kingdom and who have made their lives and homes in the United Kingdom will be able to stay, and we will guarantee their rights in the United Kingdom,” she said. “There are some differences between that and the proposals of the European Commission, but the matter will now go into the negotiations.”
Sitting alongside new French President Emmanuel Macron at a joint news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was still a “long way to go”.
Merkel added that the European leaders were keen not to let Brexit dominate the EU summit taking place in Brussels. “That was a good beginning but – and I’m trying to word this very carefully – it was not a breakthrough,” she said.
“We have said we want to pursue this matter in good co-operation, but what has come out yesterday was also that we still have a long way to go yet. And the 27 [other EU countries], especially Germany and France, will be well prepared, we will not allow ourselves to be divided.”
Merkel said she would not allow the issue to derail progress in other vital areas. “We need to take care of our own future as an EU27,” Merkel said. “This work should take precedence over Brexit negotiations.”
Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her reaction, saying May’s proposal raised many questions. “There are a multitude of answers needed on a so far very vague proposal that has disgracefully taken a year to emerge,” the First Minister said. Her concerns were echoed by EU leaders desperate for more details, including what it might mean for “complex, multi-national families,” as well as what it mean for judicial oversight.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said: “We appreciate the effort but the offer does not meet all the criteria the EU agreed on as red lines.”
In particular, the EU wants its citizens to be able to enforce their rights in Britain through the European Court of Justice, something the Tory leader is against.
They also dispute May’s attempt to limit those rights potentially to people already living in Britain before she triggered Brexit three months ago.
It was claimed yesterday that May had been the only Cabinet minister to block a unilateral offer to EU citizens in the aftermath of the referendum.
An editorial in the London Evening Standard, edited by former chan- cellor George Osborne, said: “Last June, in the days immediately after the referendum, David Cameron wanted to reassure EU citizens they would be allowed to stay. All his Cabinet agreed, except his home secretary, Mrs May, who insisted on blocking it.”
May said that was not her recollection of events. The Prime Minister has outlined five principles for her “offer”. These included a guarantee that no EU citizen resident in Britain at a cut-off date would be deported and that those who had lived in Britain for five years could stay for life -- a right foreigners already have in the rest of the EU.
Those more recently arrived would be allowed to stay until they reach the five-year threshold for “settled status”. Red tape for permanent residency would be cut and there would be a two-year grace period to avoid “cliff edge” mishaps.
Manfred Weber, German leader of conservatives in the European Parliament, which must approve any Brexit deal, said the lack of detail in May’s proposals was “quite worrying for the rest of the negotiations”. Describing “an island in chaos”, Weber said: “It still seems that the UK Government has no idea what it wants to achieve.”
The SNP’s Joan McAlpine, convener of Holyrood’s European committee, said: “Theresa May’s ‘offer’ does not go far enough, and for some of those affected it raises more questions than answers.
“People who have made their lives here and were settled here for several years before the Brexit vote – but who have missed an arbitrary cut-off point – will have woken up to find they have absolutely no security over their place in the country.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel