Prime Minister Theresa May on
Thursday (Jun 22) promised EU citizens living in Britain that they could
stay after Brexit, but set up a row with Brussels over the role of
Europe's top court.
At a summit in Brussels, May gave "a
clear commitment that no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be
asked to leave the country at the point that the UK leaves the EU", a
British government source said.
"The UK's position
represents a fair and serious offer and one aimed at giving as much
certainty as possible to citizens who have settled in the UK, building
careers and lives and contributing so much to our society," May told EU
leaders.
The EU has made a priority of the rights of an
estimated three million Europeans living in Britain, whose futures have
been thrown into doubt by its shock vote last year to leave the
28-nation bloc.
Under May's plan, Europeans who have been
living in Britain for five years at the time of a yet to be specified
cut-off date would be entitled to a new "settled status" granting them
permanent rights to healthcare, education, welfare and pensions
equivalent to British nationals.
Newer arrivals would be allowed to stay until they had amassed the necessary five years to qualify for settled status too.
Those
who arrived after the cut-off date will have a "grace period" of up to
two years, during which they can apply for another form of immigration
status, such as a work permit.
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