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05 September 2017

POLITICO: European Parliament slams UK’s Brexit stance on citizens’ rights


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MEPs said London would not sufficiently protect families from being divided by residency restrictions, would cast EU citizens living in Britain into a sea of legal uncertainty, and would create a tangle of unnecessary red tape, according to a report by the Parliament’s Brexit steering group.


The report, prepared by MEPs closely monitoring Brexit and obtained by POLITICO ahead of its official public release, offers a deeply pessimistic assessment of the negotiations between the EU and the U.K. on an issue where both sides thought they would quickly find common ground.

More than 3 million EU nationals reside in the U.K., while roughly 1.2 million Brits live in the 27 other EU countries. [...]

The report, a side-by-side comparison of the EU and U.K. positions on citizens rights, comes days after the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned London not to underestimate the role of the European Parliament, which must give final approval to any withdrawal agreement.

The analysis uses stoplight-style color coding to judge areas where citizens’ rights are protected (green), areas where clarification is needed (yellow) and danger zones where rights are likely to be put at risk (red). The chart was marked red for more than one-quarter of the 69 identified rights issues.

On the question of protections for family members, the report stated: “The U.K. position is clearly an unacceptable retrograde step for EU citizens compared to the current situation. The more restrictive criteria will drastically undermine current rights of EU citizens in relation to bringing children and spouses [to Britain]. This includes the right for EU citizens’ non-EU spouses to join them after the withdrawal date.” [...]

The document says negotiators must deal with the role of the European Court of Justice because progress on its oversight of citizens’ rights will be “essential” in determining “if sufficient progress has been achieved in this area.” [...]

Full article on POLITICO



© POLITICO


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