While I have no doubt that it fits the Evil EU narrative pro Brexit voters are so fond of, I'm pretty certain that's not the case.
A cursory check shows that EU feels UK's guarantees are not good enough, as the process would take more than a decade under current rules, and leave around a third (roughly a million people) EU nationals currently living in UK without resident rights. So, they want better guarantees.
Quote:
Such guarantees must be effective, enforceable, non-discriminatory and comprehensive, including the right to acquire permanent residence after a continuous period of five years of legal residence. Citizens should be able to exercise their rights through smooth and simple administrative procedures.
As BBC analyst has said
Quote:
This reflects concern among EU member states that the UK is underestimating the technical difficulties of reaching an agreement on the issue of citizens' rights. There have to be legal guarantees, one senior official said, not just a gentlemen's agreement. And, at the moment of course, the ultimate legal authority for EU citizens is the European Court of Justice. That makes this a tricky political problem in the UK, not least because some of these issues will still be relevant decades into the future. The EU is also concerned that the UK Home Office is placing and will continue to place bureaucratic obstacles in the path of EU citizens trying to secure their future - this is a warning shot across British bows.
They want real guarantees (legal obligations) that could be independently enforced.
There's a nice Financial Times article on it, which concludes
Quote:
However, the UK and the EU do not seem far apart in principle, and both agree that the matter is urgent. There can be no serious doubt that an agreement can be made within two years, if Britain accepts the EU’s demands. But it cannot be done at speed or without the detail being worked out, and the UK does not seem to realise this yet.
