EU Citizens' Rights in UK After Brexit May Be Decided 'Reasonably Fast' - Davis

The EU and the UK has to find a solution to secure the rights of EU citizens, said Monday following the first day of the talks.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union and the United Kingdom may be able to quickly find a solution to secure the rights of EU citizens residing in the United Kingdom and vice versa, while the issues related to Northern Ireland may take longer, David Davis, chief UK negotiator for Brexit, said Monday following the first day of the talks.

"On citizens, we hope that we can get a reasonably fast resolution. On Northern Ireland, this would take some considerable time," Davis said at joint press conference with Michel Barnier, the European Commission chief negotiator.

Davis added that the Common Travel Area, comprised of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Good Friday Agreement were treated very seriously, irrespective of the negotiations that are now taking place between the Conservative Party and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on forming an alliance in the UK House of Commons.

Both Davis and Barnier stressed the importance of the rights of EU and UK citizens in the negotiations that have just begun.

"The [UK] Prime Minister [Theresa May] will later this week update European leaders on the UK's approach to this issue [of citizens' rights] at the European Council. We will then publish a detailed paper outlining our offer on Monday," Davis said.

Barnier also said that the EU negotiators were going to strive for extensive transparency during the talks.

"We're in the same place, we take the same view as Michel [Barnier] on this, we want to see the public informed… by proactive publication of what we are doing, not by leaks or erroneous briefings," Davis said.

The United Kingdom has until spring 2019 to conclude the negotiations.