13 months on from the historic vote to leave the European Union, the plan for the Great British exit is somewhat unclear.
The second round of negotiations began in mid-July with an exchange of papers. The UK’s first offer on EU citizen rights in the UK was met with dissatisfaction from the EU and resident EU nationals.
The EU has suggested that without a guarantee from Britain that EU nationals living in the UK will be able to stay (even if they move to another EU country temporarily) then UK nationals living in Europe could face losing the right to live in another EU member state following Brexit. This affects 1.2 million UK nationals who live in the EU and approximately 3.5 million EU citizens who live in the UK.
Another vital issue that has come to the fore following these negotiations is the role of the European Court Of Justice (“ECJ”) in these Brexit negotiations. The EU wants the ECJ to resolve any disputes between the two parties when it comes to final decisions that will be made over the rights of the citizens’ that will be affected. The British government has argued that as the UK is no longer part of the EU, that the ECJ’s role will be unwarranted.
This emotive and controversial issue has been brought to the top of the list to resolve before the negotiators work on other topics.
