Brexit: UK offer on EU citizens a good start, says Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has
described UK plans to ensure the rights of EU citizens in Britain after
Brexit as "a good start".
However, she said there were "many, many other questions" about Brexit and there was "still a lot to do".
The UK proposal was unveiled by Prime Minister Theresa May at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
It would grant EU migrants who had lived in the UK for five years a new "UK settled status".
That would allow them to stay in the country and access health, education and other benefits.
The plan would affect 3.2 million EU citizens now living in the UK.
"Theresa May made clear today that EU citizens who
have been in Great Britain for five years can keep their full rights.
That's a good start," said Mrs Merkel at the end of Thursday's talks.
"But
of course there are many, many other questions about Brexit - about
finances, about the relationship with Ireland - which means we still
have a lot to do until October."
She insisted that Brexit was not the focus of the summit - the UK's split from the EU is being negotiated separately.
"For me the shaping of the future of the 27 is a priority coming
before the issue of the negotiations with Britain on the exit," she
added.
Before Mrs May's offer, the EU proposed that EU citizens in
the UK and the estimated 1.2 million Britons living in EU countries
should continue enjoying the same rights, enforceable by the European
Court of Justice (ECJ).
At the summit, the PM sought to reassure
the 27 other EU states, saying the UK "does not want anyone here to have
to leave, nor does it want families to be split up".
"No-one will face a cliff edge," she said.
The UK stunned the EU when it voted to end its membership in a
referendum a year ago on Friday. The exit deadline is 30 March 2019.
The summit's final day is to focus on migration, security and economic issues.
Counter-terrorism has been a key issue at the summit which comes in the wake of an attack in Brussels on Tuesday.
Several
EU states have been attacked in recent weeks, including the UK, France
and Sweden, and Mrs May said that an attack against any member state was
an attack on all.
BBC
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