EU to demand top court enforce citizens' rights after Brexit

[LONDON] The European Union will demand its top court have the power to enforce the rights of its citizens in Britain after Brexit.

In a draft working paper circulated this week, the EU Council of bloc members said the European Court of Justice should have "full jurisdiction" over the rights of nationals and that the European Commission should have the power to monitor them.

Such a demand may prove problematic in the upcoming Brexit talks given Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to end the court's sway over British law although her Conservative Party's election manifesto made no mention of the topic.

The document outlining what the EU called "essential principles on citizens' rights" will be discussed by officials on May 30.

It also detailed the rights the EU wants to guarantee for spouses and children even if their partner or parent dies. Among its demands are that the children of EU workers residing in the UK keep receiving family allowances even if they themselves didn't live in Britain.

A separate document fleshes out how the EU wants to calculate the UK's payments as part of the Brexit agreement.

The 10-page paper obtained by Bloomberg News, entitled "Essential principles on financial settlement", sets out a list of EU agencies and projects that Britain is liable for, and says that the UK should continue making contributions to the bloc's central pot until the current budget period concludes at the end of 2020.

BLOOMBERG

BT is now on Telegram!

For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes