MEPs threaten to block Brexit deal over "second-class" citizen offer
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jul 12, 2017
"The European Parliament will reserve its right to reject any agreement that treats EU citizens, regardless of their nationality, less favorably than they are at present", the MEPs said, according to the Daily Mirror. It said Britain's plan "would cast a dark cloud of vagueness and uncertainty over millions of Europeans" by giving EU citizens living in Britain fewer rights than those of British citizens in the EU.
"The British proposal carries a real risk of creating a second class of citizenship".
On the prospect of a U.S. deal he said: "One has to recognise not every trade deal is necessarily a good and fair deal for both parties".
British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged the "reality" of her weakened position yesterday by appealing to other parties to help implement Brexit, as she sought to relaunch her year-old premiership. The country is due to pull out of the bloc by the end of March 2019, but ministers have repeated that a transition deal may be needed to smooth the exit.
Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for the future of 3 million EU migrants living in the United Kingdom has been dismissed as a "damp squib" by the EU Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator. He went on to describe the offer as "a damp squib".
Failure to reach a deal on the future EU-UK relationship would mean "a return to the distant past", with trade regulated by World Trade Organization rules which would impose tariffs on goods such as vehicles, food and drink, he said.
Merkel said that whichever procedure emerges from the talks will serve as a model for post-Brexit dispute settlement between the European Union and U.K.in other areas, making the stakes that much higher. "We will act with an unshakable sense of objective to build the better, fairer Britain which we all want to see".
The response comes two weeks after Mrs May unveiled proposals for a special "settled status" for European Union citizens in the country after Britain leaves the bloc.
European Union goal on #citizensrights: same level of protection as in European Union law.
The UK offer requires those eligible for "settled status" to apply for it, but promises a "streamlined, digital" and "user-friendly" system, saying the government will use existing government records as proof as much as possible to minimise the need to provide documents. British and European citizens should be able to enforce their rights under a mechanism in which the European court of justice plays a full role.
Mrs May, who took office on July 13, 2016, insists she will still be prime minister in 2018, despite losing her majority.
"If there are disputes, what institution is responsible for solving these disputes?" she said.
Ingo Kramer, president of the confederation of German employers' associations (BDA), said: "The single market is one of the major assets of the EU".
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