Subject: The Brief: Right to stay must be first priority of Brexit talks
From: EurActiv <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 16:06:41 +0000

The Brief: Right to stay must be first priority of Brexit talks     
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    <http://eurac.tv/6Lv9?sid=33541>    Today's EU policy news,
24.02.2017, 5PM

       = Right to stay must be first priority of Brexit talks =

      === By  James Crisp <http://eurac.tv/6LuM?sid=33541> ===

 The status of EU citizens in Britain and British workers in the EU should
be resolved as soon as possible. Rather than the financial settlement, this
should be the first priority of the European Commission and the UK in their
future negotiations.

 The  bill for Brexit <http://eurac.tv/6LuP?sid=33541> has hogged headlines
but the divorce is already exacting a human cost. There are about 1.2
million Brits living in the EU and 2.9 million other EU citizens live in
the UK.

 Both groups are stuck in limbo. More than 5 million people face troubling
uncertainty over their futures and the lives they have built. In a worst
case scenario they could be reduced  to bargaining chips
<http://eurac.tv/6LuQ?sid=33541>

 Brits work on this newsletter. All of us believe that the best way to
guarantee our status in the EU is for the UK to guarantee the rights of EU
citizens already in Britain.

 This would be a strong signal of goodwill from the British government to
the EU. The UK needs that goodwill if Brexit is to work for both sides.

 The government says that guaranteeing EU citizens the right to stay will
cost  it “negotiating capital” <http://eurac.tv/6LuR?sid=33541> in
Europe. Theresa May has said she will make no promises, unless similar
pledges are made by the EU-27.

 A mutual agreement sealed soon, with a cut-off date for the right to stay,
is the best solution. If it is offered by either side, the other should
reciprocate.

 The deadline will raise British fears of a  flood of migration
<http://eurac.tv/6LuS?sid=33541> to beat the cut-off, be it from when
Article 50 is triggered or when the UK leaves.

 But EU immigration to Britain  has already fallen
<http://eurac.tv/6LuT?sid=33541> and the UK will still need
migrant workers after Brexit <http://eurac.tv/6LuU?sid=33541>.

 Officials, EU-27 diplomats, MEPs and experts held an exchange of views on
this issue in Brussels recently. Reciprocal rights were discussed with
Michel Barnier’s Brexit team. On Wednesday, the European Parliament will
debate the rights of citizens in both camps.

 In London last night, a Conservative in the House of Lords backed an
amendment to the Article 50 bill that could guarantee EU nationals’
status post-Brexit.  That raised hopes <http://eurac.tv/6LuV?sid=33541> of
a cross-party push that could force May to concede ground.

 Both sides should capitalise on this momentum to deliver a deal on
citizens’ legal status.

 This should be after Article 50 is triggered next month but before any
talks over the Brexit bill <http://eurac.tv/6LuW?sid=33541>. It is too
important to be left to the last moment.

      == The Roundup ==

 US President Donald Trump said he’s in favour of the EU, which he now
thinks “is wonderful <http://eurac.tv/6LuX?sid=33541>”. Last month, the
Brexit fan Trump branded the bloc a “vehicle for Germany”.

 EU efforts to curtail illegal state aid, best illustrated by the Apple
case, could soon be rendered ineffective
<http://eurac.tv/6LuY?sid=33541> by a planned reform of the US tax system.

 Austria is taking the consortium that builds the Eurofighter
<http://eurac.tv/6LuZ?sid=33541> to court and claiming over €1 billion
in damages.

 Commission President Juncker boasted that under his watch the executive
has cut back on legislative tinkering, citing as proof that Brussels
doesn’t regulate toilet flushes <http://eurac.tv/6Lu_?sid=33541>.

 UKIP leader Paul Nuttall “isn’t going anywhere
<http://eurac.tv/6Lu-?sid=33541>” after losing the Stoke by-election.
Scottish government sources claim a new independence referendum will
be called next year <http://eurac.tv/6Lv0?sid=33541> and that the
country’s leaders are confident the public will vote to leave the UK this
time.

 Marine Le Pen was labelled “a fake feminist
<http://eurac.tv/6Lv1?sid=33541>” by a topless heckler in Paris today.
She and her fellow presidential candidates sometimes struggle with the
English language <http://eurac.tv/6Lv2?sid=33541>.

 Turkey’s president said if the parliament does not reinstate the death
penalty <http://eurac.tv/6Lv3?sid=33541> then a referendum could be held
on the issue. The return of the gallows would kill off Turkey’s EU
membership hopes.

 EU enlargement chief Johannes Hahn urged Montenegro’s warring political
factions to show restraint <http://eurac.tv/6Lv4?sid=33541>. A new
government might be formed next month <http://eurac.tv/6Lv5?sid=33541> in
Macedonia.

 Silvio “Bunga Bunga” Berlusconi is auctioning  an exclusive dinner
<http://eurac.tv/6Lv6?sid=33541> with himself. The proceeds will go to the
victims of the recent lethal earthquakes in Italy.

 This is the same Berlusconi that told survivors of 2009’s deadly Aquila
quake to view their time in temporary accommodation as a “camping weekend
<http://eurac.tv/6Lv7?sid=33541>”...

 *Sam Morgan contributed to this Brief.*

      == Look out for... ==

 The  Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
<http://eurac.tv/6Lva?sid=33541> Council will be held on Monday in
Brussels. The Commission’s  clean energy package
<http://eurac.tv/6Lvb?sid=33541> will come under scrutiny from ministers
for the first time. Governance of the Energy Union will be discussed over
lunch.

 *Views are the author's own. *

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