For the millions of EU citizens living in Britain, one of the biggest Brexit concerns is what will happen to their right to continue living their lives in the UK. And despite the government releasing a 15-page policy paper on the subject, their fate still remains unclear.
The government’s initial strategy
Earlier this week Prime Minister Theresa May released her initial plan for the future residency of EU citizens, sparking debate across social media. According to the policy paper all 3 million EU citizens resident in Britain will have to apply for inclusion on a “settled status” register if they want to stay in the country after Brexit under Home Office proposals, giving them ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in the UK. This may include being given an identity card as well as entry in a Home Office database.
May said as the paper was released: “I want to completely reassure people that under these plans no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU. We want you to stay.”
She added: “EU citizens make an invaluable contribution to our United Kingdom, to our economy, our public services, and our everyday lives.
“That’s why I initially sought an agreement on this before we triggered Article 50, and it is why I’m making it an immediate priority at the beginning of the negotiations.”
In the wake of the paper’s release, May said that she had made a “fair and serious” offer, telling Parliament on Monday that she was hoping to offer “reassurance and certainty” to the 3.2 million EU citizens who lived in the UK.
The EU’s response
However, the EU commission were not so enamoured with the UK government’s approach. In a meeting on Monday they told the remaining 27 member states that the UK’s offer showed a “general lack of clarity … many issues still to be clarified, no reciprocity, [a] lack of legal certainty, no lifelong protection against future changes of UK law [and] no directly enforceable vested rights and no European court of justice”.
The EU also want citizens rights to be overseen and enforced by the European Court of Justice, something that Theresa May is thoroughly against. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said in May that “the rights in the withdrawal agreement will need to be directly enforceable and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice maintained”.
Instead, a government source told Sky News that a new oversight body could be created, in order to create a compromise between the two parties.
How many people does this issue affect?
Around £3.3million EU nationals currently live in the UK. Children born in the UK to parents from the EU will automatically become British citizens, and the government has confirmed that Irish citizens Irish citizens will not have their rights affected by Brexit and will always be able to live and work in Britain freely.