What are citizens’ rights and why are they important?

Citizens’ rights are the rights and protections offered to all EU citizens, including free movement and residence, equal treatment and a wide range of other rights under EU law regarding work, education, social security and health.

They are held by some 3.5 million citizens from other member states in the UK and about 1.2 million British nationals on the continent, and are a key part of the article 50 negotiations that are taking Britain out of Europe.

For Brussels, citizens’ rights are “the first priority” of the article 50 divorce talks. “We need real guarantees for our people who live, work and study in the UK, and the same goes for Brits,” the European council’s president, Donald Tusk, has said.

The UK government likewise stressed in its Brexit white paper that it wants to “give people the certainty they want ... at the earliest opportunity. It is the right and fair thing to do”.

In the opening session of article 50 talks on 19 June, the two sides confirmed they would prioritise the question of citizens’ rights, on which Brexit secretary David Davis said there was “much common ground”.

How did things stand before talks began?

Agreeing a problem needs urgent resolution is not the same as agreeing on the answer. Citizens’ rights are a far more complex area than many in Whitehall admit – and could prove a big stumbling block.

The issue generated early ill feeling. Claims by Theresa May that she tried to reach an early deal on the issue but was rebuffed by member states drew a sharp EU reminder that the topic could not be addressed outside the formal divorce talks.

After a succession of high-profile cases involving longstanding residents or their children being denied permanent residency, the British government has also been accused in Brussels of failing to treat EU nationals fairly and humanely.

What is the UK’s position?

On 22 June, May travelled to Brussels to unveil the outline of what she called a “fair and serious” offer to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in Britain. On 26 June, she told parliament the details and the government published a 15-page document.

The offer would confer on EU nationals who have been living in the UK for five years a new “settled status”, allowing them to be treated like British citizens for residence and entitlement to education, health care, benefits and pensions.

The policy paper said the UK was willing to agree to a “cut-off point” between 29 March 2017 – when article 50 was triggered – and Brexit day. All EU nationals in the UK before that date will be able to build up five years’ worth of residence.

The UK promised to streamline the application process, drop the requirement for comprehensive health insurance, index-link EU nationals’ pensions and allow them to send welfare payments to children abroad.

But the offer still falls short of what the EU expects because it would see EU citizens lose a number of rights they currently have. Several sticking points will have to be resolved before a reciprocal agreement on citizens’ rights can be reached.

What is the EU’s position?

EU leaders at a summit in Brussels criticised May’s initial outline as “not sufficient”, “vague” and “a first step”, while expats condemned it as “pathetic”. The response to the detailed offer was not much better.

Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted that its aim was the “same level of protection as in EU law” and that “more ambition, clarity and guarantees” were needed than the UK’s opening position.

In a document handed to the UK’s EU ambassador on 12 June, the EU27 demanded “effective, enforceable, non-discriminatory and comprehensive” guarantees “to safeguard the status and rights derived from EU law at the date of withdrawal”.

The EU27 wants these rights to apply in perpetuity, not just to EU citizens in the UK and British citizens on the continent now, but to those who lived abroad at any time during the UK’s membership of the EU.



It also wants those rights to apply to “current and future family members”, no matter their nationality, who decide to join the right-holder after Brexit, and to continue to apply to family members after the divorce or death of the right-holder.



So what are the likely sticking points?

Start date The UK’s preferred cut-off date is 29 March 2017, when article 50 was triggered, whereas the EU wants it to be the day that Britain formally leaves.

Family union EU nationals who marry after March 2019 will lose their right to bring family members to the UK unless they pass the minimum income test required of UK citizens who want to bring in non-EU family members.

Students There is no clarity on whether students allowed to finish courses will be able to stay on to work after their studies.

Application process EU nationals who have already gone through the often torturous and sometimes expensive process of attaining permanent UK residence will have to go through another registration process.

Right to leave and come back Unless they meet certain requirements, EU nationals with settled status in the UK risk losing it – and therefore their right to return – if they leave Britain for more than two years.

Two classes of EU citizen The UK suggests that unlike those who arrive before the yet-to-be-agreed cutoff date, EU nationals who arrive after it may stay for a “temporary period” but “should have no expectation of guaranteed settled status.”

Voting rights The UK proposal makes no mention of whether EU nationals with settled status will be able to vote in local elections.

Enforcement The UK insists British courts must enforce the agreement in the UK, while the EU wants the European commission to monitor it and the European Court of Justice – or an equivalent body following ECJ rules – to enforce it. The UK has repeatedly said Brexit must mean leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ.