EU Prioritizes Its Citizens' Rights in Brexit Negotiations

EU citizens should be able to live as they do despite Brexit, the bloc's Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union citizens' rights are first priority in divorce talks with the United Kingdom, EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier said Wednesday.

"Citizens' rights are our first priority," Barnier said. "Our objective is very clear: these have to be able to continue to live as they do today and for life."

Barnier clarified at a briefing in Brussels that the published Brexit directives cover the "first phase" of negotiations in line with a two-phased approach.

"I will pay great attention to the situation in Ireland, and I will be going to Ireland next week," he stressed.

Barnier further sought to dispel the "illusion" that Brexit will have no consequences.

European citizens' rights in the UK should apply "up to the day of Brexit" targeted in late March 2019, he said.

"I have a mandate and a remit, and I will respect it. It is to cover people who will arrive [in the UK] tomorrow morning and up to the day of Brexit," Barnier said.

The EU's negotiating directives published earlier in the day state that its citizens should continue acquiring permanent residence in the UK "after legally residing there for a continuous period of five years."

The directives envision the acquisition of permanent residence rights even if EU citizens moved to the UK less than five years before the date of withdrawal.

Barnier warned, however, "I cannot tell you today what the results of negotiations on that point or any other point could be."

"But I am quite determined to ask for their rights to be covered as per my negotiating mandate, including for the category of people… who are not there yet, but who arrive before Brexit happens," he clarified.

"The United Kingdom will have to respect a single financial settlement, which will cover all the financial relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, all the commitments that they have entered into as a member of the EU," Barnier said.

Speaking at a briefing outlining Brussels' negotiating directives on Brexit, he was quick to warn that "this is not a punishment, nor is it an exit tax of some kind."

The United Kingdom officially began the EU withdrawal process in late March by handing a formal letter to European Council President Donald Tusk.

According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom now has two years to complete the negotiation process.

The June 8 elections in the United Kingdom will not change the European Union's "position and determination" in Brexit talks, Barnier said.

"These elections will not change anything as regards the position and determination of the European Union as affirmed on Saturday and confirmed today."