BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union and Britain on Friday tripped over the first item in their Brexit talks - protecting the rights of each other's citizens - highlighting the potential for trouble ahead in their marathon negotiations.
"It's obvious that this is about reducing the citizens' rights", Tusk told reporters of his "first impression" of May's offer. But he added that it would be be "for our negotiation team to analyse the offer line by line once we receive it on paper". The EU had earlier proposed that both groups should continue to have the same rights they now enjoy - to be enforceable by the European Court of Justice.
Nearly exactly one year after Britain voted to leave in the 23 June referendum, May promised that nobody would be forced to leave after Brexit, offering permanent rights over healthcare, education, welfare and pensions to Europeans who arrive before a cut-off date.
That would entitle them to a special category of "settled status", conferring the same rights to work, pensions, NHS care and other public services as British citizens, which they will maintain for life.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the proposal was "particularly vague".
The response to the offer has been mixed, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling it a "good start", albeit one that raised "many other questions", while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker - perhaps sensing an upper hand over the weakened British prime minister - said it was "not sufficient". 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. "This is a fair and serious offer".
A two-day long Brussels summit of the European Council ended Friday with leaders agreeing on various issues including security, migration, Brexit, climate change and economy, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
"The UK's position represents a fair and serious offer, one aimed at giving as much certainty as possible to citizens who have settled in Britain, building careers and lives and contributing so much to our society".
United Kingdom makes major concession on first day of Brexit talks
Barnier has said he hopes to conclude the talks by October 2018, leaving six months to ratify the deal. Michel insisted the British people had chosen to leave and negotiations should now proceed apace.
"Those already in the United Kingdom with less than 5 years" residence and who arrive lawfully before the cut-off point will be able to continue to reside in the United Kingdom to acquire their settled status.
"That was a good beginning but - and I'm trying to word this very carefully - it was not a breakthrough", she said, to agreement from the French president.
However, the British PM refused to specify a date, noting only for the period of March 29 2017 when Britain issued a mechanism for its expected exit after two years.
The British PM's offer received a mixed response from European Union leaders, a BBC report said.
But Mr Tajani told BBC Newsnight: "The problem is what Mrs May and what the United Kingdom government want to do - [do] they want to leave Europe and nothing more, or [do] they want to have closer cooperation. the example is the cooperation between Europe and Norway".
She added: "There are some differences between that and the proposal the European Commission put out and the matter will now go into the negotiations". But the UK's view is that British courts should have the jurisdiction post-Brexit.
Asked to expand, Tusk said it was obvious that Brexit would have a negative impact on citizens' rights.
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