The Guardian: May's Brexit transition demand 'would penalise EU citizens'

18 February 2018

Theresa May’s demand that EU nationals coming to the UK during a Brexit transition deal should enjoy fewer rights than those already in the country would amount to “penalising citizens”, Guy Verhofstadt has said.

He said: “It’s not acceptable for us that rules will continue without change for financial services, for goods, for whatever other business, and only for the citizens, their situation will change. That is penalising citizens.”[...]

“That will not be the outcome of these negotiations. It cannot be the outcome,” Verhofstadt told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, saying he could not countenance a trade deal that would also see the UK seek advantage through lower taxes and regulations. [...]

She told ITV’s Peston on Sunday: “We cannot see a way forward when it comes to Northern Ireland or to tariff-free trade across Europe without us being in some form of customs union that probably looks very much like the customs union that there is at the moment, and that’s our position on that.” [...]

Verhofstadt said the European parliament was “very worried” at the idea of such a reduction in citizens’ rights, calling it “a bureaucratic nightmare”. [...]

Full article on The Guardian


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