Weakened May throws EU citizens rights on table in opening Brexit gambit
Migrants with 5 years residency would receive 'settled status'
EU's Juncker says move is 'not sufficient'
UK Prime Minister Theresa May used the three million EU citizens living in Britain as her opening gambit in Brexit negotiations, offering them a “settled status” if they had been in the country for five years.
May threw her chips on the table overnight at an EU leaders' summit in Brussels, describing it as "a fair and serious offer”.
However, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker was quick to slap down the politically-weakened May, saying the proposal was a “first step, but not sufficient”.
Under the May plan, EU citizens in the UK who had lived in the UK for five years would gain access to health, education and other benefits. The deal was dependent on the same rights being extended to Britons living across the EU, May said.
Those who arrive lawfully during an unspecified grace period would be given the chance to build five years of residency.
This grace period could start at any point up to the date of Britain's departure, according to the proposal which was unveiled exactly a year after Britons voted to end their 40-year relationship with the EU largely over concerns about migration. It also comes a fortnight after May humiliatingly lost her parliamentary majority in a snap election that has shattered her electoral credibility and left her premiership in tatters and hanging by a thread.
A potential flash point had already emerged over which legal jurisdiction the offer would fall under. The EU wants the European Court of Justice to guarantee citizens' rights, but the UK government has rejected this demand.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said May's offer was “a good start".
"But of course there are many, many other questions about Brexit - about finances, about the relationship with Ireland - which means we still have a lot to do until October."