Theresa May’s opening offer on the rights of 3 million EU citizens living in the U.K. got a mixed response from European leaders Friday, and even that goodwill gesture comes with major hurdles.
May, on the back foot after a disastrous showing in the recent general election, presented her proposal Thursday night for a new “U.K. settled status” for the estimated 3.2 million EU citizens in the U.K., whose fates hang in the balance as the two sides argue about what Brexit will actually mean.
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The rights of Europeans in Britain have been a top priority for European negotiators, amid complaints that they’re being treated as bargaining chips, and over fears they could face deportation after the U.K.’s exit deadline of March 30, 2019.
But May promised European leaders that her “fair and serious offer” would ensure that “no one will have to leave.” “We won’t be seeing families split apart,” she said.
Here’s what she’s proposed:
- EU residents who have lived in the U.K. for five years can stay for life, and will get the same guaranteed rights as British citizens in health care, benefits, education, and pensions.
- Those who’ve been in the country for less time will also be entitled to stay and become eligible for U.K. settled status.
- Those who arrive after a yet-to-be-determined cut-off date, but before Britain leaves the EU, will be given a “grace period,” expected to be two years, during which they can clarify their immigration status and make sure they’re able to receive settled status.
- The cumbersome residency application system, which currently involves completing an 85-page form, will be streamlined.
- The offer is contingent on the 1.2 million Britons living in European Union countries receiving reciprocal treatment. The EU had earlier proposed that both groups should continue to have the same rights they currently enjoy – to be enforceable by the European Court of Justice.
The response to the offer has been mixed, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling it a “good start,” albeit one that raised “many other questions,” while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – perhaps sensing an upper hand over the weakened British prime minister – said it was “not sufficient.” Mostly though, European leaders said they simply needed more details on such a complex area, with questions on issues such as the rights of the children of British-resident Europeans who live elsewhere currently unanswered.
But one major sticking point has already arisen: Which legal body will have jurisdiction over decisions that will inevitably arise in immigration cases? The EU wants the European Court of Justice to have the final say, but Britain insists that will be a matter for British courts.
Anand Menon, the director of the think tank U.K. in a Changing Europe, told VICE News that the argument was tricky because both parties’ positions “seemed ridiculous to the other side.”
For the British, escaping the jurisdiction of European courts was one of the main reasons for Brexit, “But for the Europeans, they’ll be thinking that ‘given the state of your politics, who knows what your next government’s going to be, and what if it decides to overturn your existing laws? What protection do we have against that?’”
Menon said a compromise would likely be required – perhaps a hybrid court on which British and European judges sit.
Nicolas Hatton, co-chair of the3million, a lobby group representing EU citizens in Britain, said May’s proposal was neither “fair nor serious.” He also called for any eventual agreement on the rights of citizens to be ring-fenced, so it was not contingent on the outcome of the rest of negotiations.
Britain is expected to reveal more details on its position to the EU Monday, as both parties look to tackle the citizens’ rights issue early in negotiations in an attempt to establish goodwill. Remarkably, the issue is seen as one of the less thorny issues the negotiators are going to face – an indicator of just how complicated the next two years of Brexit are going to be. Buckle up.
