EU tightens Brexit demands on residence and banks, document shows
Brussels — European Union leaders will insist Britain grant permanent residence to EU citizens who arrive before Brexit in 2019 and stay five more years, according to a draft negotiating plan they will endorse this weekend. In the latest sign of the bloc cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to guarantee full rights after Britain’s departure for the 3-million EU nationals living there, new draft guidelines include wording that diplomats said aimed to head off any British move to cut immigrant numbers by forcing people out. The nine-page document which officials do not expect to be significantly changed before May’s 27 EU peers sign off on it over lunch in Brussels on Saturday, was also revised on Monday to make clear there is no guarantee that a future EU-UK free-trade deal will give Britain’s big financial services industry access to the bloc. Leaders will also demand that Britain cover its share of new payouts from the EU budget for two years after it has left. The gu...
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