EU Parliament to Block Brexit Unless EU Citizens Can Stay
Local Editor
Members of the European Parliament will block any Brexit deal unless EU citizens who move to the UK up to 2019 are granted the right to stay and work, the EU Parliament's chief negotiator said.
Guy Verhofstadt vowed to fight any attempt by Britain to set tomorrow - the day for triggering Article 50 - as the "cut-off date" for the free movement of people.
Both the Parliament and the Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, are concerned by reports that No 10 will designate 29 March 2017 as the landmark date.
If so, EU nationals moving to the UK for the next two years, until Brexit is completed, would have weaker rights than those already in the UK - even if the rights of existing citizens are eventually guaranteed.
A five-page resolution setting out the Parliament's red lines - to be voted on next Wednesday - will rule out any "degradation" of the rights of EU nationals arriving in the UK over the next two years.
Speaking to The Independent, Verhofstadt warned Theresa May that imposing the cut-off date would be the wrong way to start the negotiations, which will begin after tomorrow.
"Any unilateral decision to curtail the rights of EU citizens in the UK, while the UK remains a member of the EU, would be contrary to EU law and we would oppose such a move vigorously."
The PM said the future rights of the three million EU nationals in the UK - and of around one million British ex-pats living in the EU - will only be settled on a reciprocal basis, as part of the Brexit negotiations.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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