British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her offer to let millions of EU citizens stay in Britain after Brexit as fellow EU leaders on Friday responded coolly to her opening move in negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal.
A year to the day after Britons voted for Brexit, May said there were differences at the Brussels summit over guarantees to 3 million EU expatriates in Britain, but said they would be addressed in negotiations begun this week.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a “good start,” but “not a breakthrough, to say the least.”
Summit chair Donald Tusk found it “below expectations” and said it could leave people, including 800,000 Poles, worse off.
“It’s obvious that this is about reducing the citizens’ rights,” Tusk said of his “first impression” of May’s offer.
May, facing the first European test of her authority after an election backfire cost her a parliamentary majority, pushed back, calling her proposal a “fair and serious offer.”
“Those citizens from EU countries that 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 added.
“There are some differences between that and the proposals of the European Commission, but the matter will now go into the negotiations,” May said.
Sitting alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a joint news conference, Merkel said: “It became clear during the discussion last night that we have a long path ahead of us.”
“And the 27, especially Germany and France, will be well prepared, we will not allow ourselves to be divided,” Merkel said.
Many leaders want to see details that May promised, including how multinational families would fare and what judicial oversight there would be.
In particular, the EU 27 want their citizens to be able to enforce their rights in Britain through the European Court of Justice, something May has ruled out.
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