LONDON — Ignore the sound and fury, Theresa May’s “fair and serious” offer on EU citizens’ rights gets very close to what Brussels is asking for.

Sure, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier reacted in the customary manner on Monday afternoon, sending a barbed message on Twitter demanding more “ambition, clarity and guarantees” from the U.K. government than set out, but the U.K.’s opening bid is remarkably similar to the EU’s own proposal, published June 12.

There remain a few areas where compromise will be needed and the EU appears confident it can force more concessions from the U.K. than vice versa — particularly after May’s general election gambit backfired. The U.K.’s threat to walk away without a deal — never particularly serious — wilted in the uncomfortable glare of the June 8 vote in which she lost her majority and the subsequent deal to prop up the Conservative government with support from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which does not want to see a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

There are still a number of points of divergence — but here are eight ways the two sides are within striking distance of each other (even if a final deal is far from certain):

1. European Court of Justice

The major problem. Brussels’ view is simple — anyone who lawfully moved to the U.K. before Britain’s formal departure should have their rights fully protected after Britain leaves. And by this, Brussels means rights as defined by the European Court of Justice right up until the day of departure.

In other words it wants the U.K. to respect EU case law. There is nothing in the U.K. government’s position that rules this out.

The crunch comes in the continuing involvement of the ECJ. The U.K.’s position on this is clear — no ECJ jurisdiction. “The Court of Justice of the European Union will not have jurisdiction in the U.K.,” the Home Office document published Monday states. But this does not mean the U.K. is asking for Brussels to simply take the U.K.’s word for it. Under the prime minister’s proposal, the agreement on citizens’ rights will be underpinned in international law in “the Withdrawal Treaty with the EU.”

The government is open to the prospect of a joint U.K.-EU arbitration committee to ensure the withdrawal treaty is applied.

The major sticking point on this — and on the entire citizens’ rights offer — is the Commission’s demand that the ECJ have “full jurisdiction corresponding to the duration of the protection of citizen's rights in the Withdrawal agreement.”

Unless there’s some movement on this there can be no deal.

2. Permanent residence

The EU called for the same level of “protection” for EU citizens on the date of withdrawal as they have today — including “the right to acquire permanent residence after a continuous period of five years of legal residence.”

The U.K.’s opening offer is remarkably similar.

“Any EU citizen in the U.K. with five years’ continuous residence — at a specified cutoff date — will be granted settled status,” the prime minister told MPs Monday. “They will be treated as if they were U.K. citizens for health care, education, benefits and pensions.”

The gap between the two sides is over the cutoff date. The EU believes this should be March 29, 2019, two years after Theresa May began Britain's formal withdrawal and the date at which the negotiating period permitted under Article 50 expires. The U.K. has not ruled this out but instead said it should be part of negotiations, leaving open the possibility that this will be before Britain officially leaves the EU.

As part of the U.K.’s offer, any EU citizen with less than five years’ residence — but who has arrived before the specified cutoff date — “will be able to stay until they have the five years’ residence to apply for U.K. settled status.”

One problematic area that will need to be ironed out is whether those who arrive after the proposed cutoff date but before Brexit will be entitled to remain and eventually apply for permanent residence.

Under May’s current offer the only guarantee EU citizens would have under this scenario is to stay for a “grace period” of up to two years. A solution to this gray area could be to make the cutoff point the final day of Britain’s EU membership, as requested by Brussels.

3. The day after Brexit

Brussels' position is simple: EU citizens in the U.K. legally before Brexit should not have to prove their right to remain immediately after Brexit.

They should be able to continue living and working in the U.K. “even if they do not hold a residence document evidencing that right.”

In the House of Commons on Monday, the prime minister met this requirement in full, announcing that all EU citizens who moved to the U.K. before Britain’s formal withdrawal will be given “blanket permission” to stay in the country for up to two years, giving them time to apply for official residency rights.

4. Bureaucracy

Over and above the fundamental legal question marks about citizens’ rights is a more prosaic problem — Brussels does not trust the U.K. Home Office to oversee the process.

In its opening pitch, the European Commission said any documents required by the U.K. government should be “issued either free of charge or for a charge not exceeding that imposed on nationals for the issuing of similar documents.”

The U.K. government again appears to be in listening mode, pledging: “We recognize the cost of the new scheme will be important for EU nationals. The U.K. intends to set fees at a reasonable level.”

The other issue is the Home Office’s notoriously burdensome residency test.

“The system of registration that citizens go through will be as streamlined and light touch as possible" — Theresa May

Again, the U.K. has moved to allay this fear. “Our aim is to make the application process as streamlined and user-friendly as possible for EU citizens and their families,” the Home Office document states.

A new digital application system is expected to be up and running in 2018.

The PM addressed the issue in her statement to MPs. “The system of registration that citizens go through will be as streamlined and light touch as possible and we intend to remove some of the technical requirements currently needed to obtain permanent residence under EU rules. For example, we will not require anyone to demonstrate that they have held comprehensive sickness insurance.”

5. Equal treatment

In the June 12 document setting out Brussels’ position, the Commission asks for assurances that EU citizens will be treated no differently after Brexit on the terms of the exit deal — “equal treatment amongst EU27 citizens by and in the U.K. in all matters covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.”

In the U.K. government document published Monday, it says the rights of EU citizens “will apply to all EU citizens equally and we will not treat citizens of one member state differently to those of another.”

It says these rights will “depend on the commitments which we may jointly agree with the EU in the Withdrawal Agreement.”

6. Ireland

There is one exception to the “equal treatment” demand — Ireland.

The EU says any agreement should be “without prejudice to Common Travel Area arrangements between the U.K. and Ireland.”

Those looking for a pattern may not be surpised to see almost identical language deployed by the U.K.

After setting out the bulk of her offer to MPs Monday, the prime minister added: “This is all without prejudice to the Common Travel Area arrangements that exist between the U.K. and Ireland. We will preserve the freedoms that U.K. and Irish nationals currently enjoy in each others’ state. And Irish citizens will not need to apply for permanent residence to protect these entitlements.”

7. Benefits

British Euroskeptics have long been furious about the payment of child benefit to the children of European migrant workers in the U.K. whose family are still abroad.

David Cameron promised to end that right. The government dropped this fight, pledging instead to maintain the “export of U.K. benefits to the EU” until the point of departure.

It remains unclear whether EU nationals’ children born after Brexit will be eligible. It looks unlikely.

For the government it is a climbdown but one with a limited shelf life: Children grow up.

8. Family rights

The U.K. offered to honor the right of EU citizens’ to bring their family dependents to Britain until the point of departure. They will also be able to apply for settled status after five years.

One point of difference remains, however. If family members wish to join after Brexit they will be subject “to the same rules as those joining British citizens.”

This may sound unimportant but under current rules, EU citizens in Britain have more extensive rights in this area than U.K. nationals, who do not have the automatic right to bring over non-European Economic Area family dependents.

So as things stand, after Brexit EU citizens’ rights in this area will be watered down.