Roundup: Brussels says Britain's offer for EU citizens "below expectations"

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BRUSSELS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- At the conclusion of a European Council summit here Friday, Council President Donald Tusk said at a press conference that British Prime Minister Theresa May's proposal on the future of European Union (EU) citizens in Britain after Brexit was "below our expectations."

During a working dinner in Brussels on Thursday night, May made what she called a "fair and serious offer" to her European counterparts regarding the future rights of EU citizens after Brexit, an issue European leaders have repeatedly made clear is their first priority in Brexit negotiations.

May said she was willing to agree on a "cutoff point" falling somewhere between when she formally triggered Article 50 procedures on March 29 of this year, and the date of March 2019 as proposed by the European Commission. EU citizens who had already arrived in Britain before that date and during a "grace period" of up to two years, would qualify for a special "settled status," granting them the same rights as British citizens and able to be kept for life.

During Friday's press conference, however, Tusk was unimpressed by the British prime minister's offer.

"My first impression is that the UK's offer is below our expectations, and that it risks worsening the situation of citizens," Tusk said, "But it will be for our negotiating team to analyze the offer line by line, once we receive it on paper."

Asked to expand, Tusk said it was obvious that Brexit would have a negative impact on citizens' rights.

"If we compare the current level of citizens' rights to what we have had from the British prime minister, it's obvious that this is about reducing the citizens rights of EU citizens in the UK, and our role (as European leaders) in the negotiations is to reduce this risk."

Brexit occupied very little time during the European summit because the European Council had previously agreed that it would not be a forum for Brexit talks.

However, post-summit questions from the press still focused on Brexit.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the current presidency of the European Council, was asked about his impressions of May's offer.

"My concern at this time is that we might be creating pitfalls if the details are not really ironed out," Muscat said. "I think everyone wanted or would like a situation where there is a blanket fair treatment of all our citizens. Obviously, I think we all agree with the issue of reciprocity, I don't think there is an issue there, but I think all of us would want to know more details and would expect more in the next few months," he explained.

In a highly symbolic joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the summit on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expanded on comments she had made Thursday evening, when she had called the UK's proposal "a good start."

"That was a good beginning but -- and I'm trying to word this very carefully -- it was not a breakthrough," Merkel told the press. "We have said that we want to pursue this matter in good co-operation, but what has come out of yesterday was also that we still have a long way to go yet," she said.

On Thursday night, EU leaders did, however, reach an agreement on the procedure for choosing new locations for two Britain-based agencies -- the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority. All EU member states will be invited to submit an offer within three months, with a European Council vote to decide on the new homes for the agencies predicted in November.

The European Council summit, held from June 22 to 23, also saw European leaders discuss key topics such as European security, the fight against terrorism, the European economy, and the Paris Climate Agreement. The EU heads of state agreed on the need for a permanent defense cooperation scheme, their wish to increase measures to fight terrorist propaganda online, more means to develop the single market following positive economic outlooks, and reinforced commitment to the Paris Agreement's fight to end climate change. Enditem

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