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Prime Minister Theresa May set out what she called a "fair deal" for EU citizens living in Britain on Thursday, saying in her first test of negotiating strength that she did not want anyone to have to leave because of Brexit or to split up families.
Outlining the five main principles of her "fair and serious offer", May told other EU leaders at a summit in Brussels that she wanted to offer certainty to EU citizens about their future in Britain, again using a softer tone in her approach to Brexit.
But while her five principles go some way to ease concerns of the roughly 3 million EU nationals in Britain, their leaders will no doubt want to see more detail and may query the lack of a firm cut-off date for any changes to immigration rules – the EU is insisting on no changes until Britain leaves in 2019.
And her reduced stature, after losing her parliamentary majority in a 8 June election, among leaders who have made clear that they are more concerned about the future of the European Union than Britain's departure, could see her on the back foot.
It was her first foray into the Brexit talks, one which was timed to coincide with coffee at the end of dinner by EU leaders who have warned the British prime minister not to use Council summits as a negotiating chamber for Britain's departure.
May told leaders she wanted to offer certainty by saying no EU citizens in Britain lawfully would be asked to leave at the time of Brexit, and that all EU citizens lawfully in the country at the point of Brexit would be able to regularise their status.
She would also offer any EU citizen resident for five years – at some cut-off date – the opportunity to get settled status, a new category which would treat them as if they were British citizens for healthcare, education, benefits and pensions.
The 85-page residency form, which many struggled to fill in after Britain voted to leave the European Union a year ago on Friday, will be replaced by a more streamlined system, "using digital tools to register people in a light-touch way".
In a nod to the million or more Britons living on the continent, she said that: "Reciprocity was, of course, vital."
But, even with the softer tone and expressed eagerness to sort out one of the relatively easy problems that the Brexit talks will have to unpick, there were bound to be sticking points.
There would be no changes until the latter date:
Other non-negotiables were the role of the European Court of Justice – May has repeatedly said that "we're taking back control of our own rules" and, the source said, EU citizens could rely on the protection of "our highly respected courts".
The EU wants their citizens' rights after Brexit enforceable in their European court in Luxembourg.
The EU has insisted that sweeping political guarantees are worth little without detailed legal agreements which tackle the complex diversity of people's family situations.
"Both sides should seek to agree terms and give certainty as early as possible in the talks," May said.
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