London: May’s Brexit rights offer disappoints EU leaders

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday met a cool response from European leaders, who were underwhelmed by her offer to let millions of EU citizens stay in the UK after the “Brexit” withdrawal is complete.
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Britons voting to leave the EU, with political leaders scrambling to agree on divorce terms before the deadline of midnight on March 29, 2019.
Things have had a shaky start, however, with leaders at an EU summit in Brussels saying that May’s opening move in negotiations has fallen short.
“I want to reassure all those EU citizens who are in the UK, who have made their lives and homes in the UK, that no one will have to leave. We won’t be seeing families split apart,” May said of the deal focused on the estimated 3 million EU expatriates in Britain.
The British leader said she was making expats a “very serious” offer, but summit chair Donald Tusk, a former Polish premier, said it may leave people worse off.
“My first impression is that the UK offer is below our expectations,” Tusk said. “It’s obvious that this is about reducing the citizens’ rights… Our role in negotiations is to reduce this risk.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal marked a “good start” but was “not a breakthrough, to say the least.”
Under the terms of May’s proposal, no EU citizen resident in Britain at a cut-off date would be deported, and those who had lived in Britain for five years could stay for life. Those more recently arrived would be allowed to stay until they reach the five-year threshold for “settled status.”
But the EU countries want their citizens to be able to enforce their rights in Britain through the European Court of Justice, something May has flatly ruled out.
— With Reuters