BRUSSELS EU nationals will be allowed to remain in Britain after Brexit with guaranteed rights similar to those of UK citizens under plans outlined by prime minister Theresa May to the leaders of the other 27 member states over dinner on Thursday evening.
In the first substantive Brexit proposal from the UK government, May offered a new UK settled status for EU citizens who have resided in the UK for five years at a date to be specified between the triggering of Article 50 and Britains formal exit from the European Union. Any EU citizen in the UK for less than five years by that date will be allowed to stay until they have five years of residence to obtain the settled status.
The aim of the status will be treat EU citizens as if they were UK citizens for education, benefits, pensions, and healthcare rights.
At the dinner, May outlined the key principles of Britains offer to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK. These include:
A commitment that no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave the country at the point that the UK leaves the EU, and all EU citizens lawfully here at the point the UK leaves will have the opportunity to regularise their status to remain in the country. The prime minister told leaders that the UK does not want anyone here to have to leave, nor does it want families to be split up.
A specified cut off date that would fall within a window no earlier than date of the Article 50 notification letter [29 March 2017], and no later than the exit date [29 March 2019]. The specific date will subject of the Brexit negotiations, but May made clear that EU citizens currently in the UK will have their rights protected by EU law until the day Britain leaves the EU.
A grace period: the length of this period is still to be determined but expected to be up to two years - to allow people to regularise their status so to avoid a cliff edge. All EU citizens either in the UK today or arriving before Britain leaves the EU will have the opportunity to regularise their status under the new rules.
A streamlined administration: May signalled that the administration of this system would be as streamlined as possible using digital tools to register people in a light touch way. In effect, the UK is all but binning the current 85-page residency application process.
The prime minister said the proposal was contingent on reciprocity, but said her priority in setting out the principles was to provide reassurance and certainty to EU citizens as quickly as possible and that both sides should seek to agree terms early in the Brexit talks.
The UK's position represents a fair and serious offer,'' May said. One aimed at giving as much certainty as possible to citizens who have settled in the UK, building careers and lives, and contributing so much to our society.''
The government will publish a detailed paper with the proposals on Monday. The UKs commitments to EU citizens would be enshrined in UK law, and would be enforceable by UK courts.
From Mays remarks alone it is not clear exactly how the UK proposal will match up to the full suite of rights, including the derived rights of family members, that are currently enjoyed by EU nationals residing in the UK as well as by Britons living elsewhere in the EU. It was also unclear whether reciprocal arrangements elsewhere in the EU could lead to Britons losing some of their existing rights, and how the proposal could affect individuals who fall between the cracks, for example if they were to leave the country or become jobless while working towards the five years needed to achieve the UK settled status.
The government is expected to provide detailed answers to some of these questions in next weeks plan.
The UK proposal comes after the European Commissions Brexit task force published a paper outlining its position on how to guarantee the rights of EU citizens. It is aiming for all existing rights of EU citizens and their family members to be protected, and to agree a detailed plan to enable this. But the crux of this debate isnt only about protecting all existing rights but how to guarantee them reciprocally in future too. The EU argues that there needs to be a mechanism to settle any disputes and protect citizens from possible changes in national legislation (in the UK or elsewhere in Europe). The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is one possible arbiter of any accord (and of the overall UK-EU exit deal).
You wouldnt have this guarantee just through UK courts, an EU official told BuzzFeed News.
Having made ending the jurisdiction of the ECJ one of her primary objectives, May is in effect being asked to cross one of her red lines or to come up with an analogous mechanism. But there is no sign the prime minister is prepared to take such a step.
