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The chief Brexit negotiator said the European Union wanted an international agreement with British authorities where legislation was controlled by both sides.

Mr Verhofstadt has backed away from EU guidelines which state the European Court of Justice should continue to have a say on EU nationals' rights in the UK.

Brussels officials had lashed out at Theresa Mays offer for EU citizen rights branding it a damp squib which they will never endorse in the final Brexit deal.

Asked if it was his insistence the rights of EU citizens in the UK was overseen by the European Court of Justice, Mr Verhofstadt said joint power sharing was now the way forward.

Speaking on the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, he said: In the proposal by the UK Government it will be a change in the national migration legislation and we dont accept that as we have made very clear.

It has to be based on an international agreement because we cannot accept that from one day or another, the British parliament is changing that system.

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What we want is to be protected in an international agreement between the European Union on the one hand and the UK authorities

Chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt

The lead negotiator for the European Parliament added European citizens could not be treated as second class people in the UK.

And he denied he was trying to push for a system where EU citizens had more rights than UK citizens.

He said he wanted the existing rights of the three million EU citizens in the UK to be continued.

He said: Not at all, it is the existing system. What we want is to be protected in an international agreement between the European Union on the one hand and the UK authorities on the other hand.

The reason why we want an international agreement is then automatically you will have an oversight by the British authorities on the one hand but also the European authorities at the other hand because an international agreement will be scrutinised and will be controlled by both sides because there are two parties in it.

Members of the European Parliament, who will have a vote on the final deal, have vowed they will veto Mrs Mays proposal for its citizens post-Brexit as they said it lessened the rights of its nationals.

Last month, Theresa May offered European nationals currently living in the UK full residency status as part of a fair and serious offer which would have a negotiated cut-off date.

But MEPs have said they will never endorse such an offer, adding that they will push for the ECJ to play a full role for both British and European citizens.

Guy Verhofstadt, writing to the Guardian with several other MEPs, said: It was a damp squib, proposing that Europeans obtain the status of third-country nationals in the UK, with fewer rights than British citizens are offered throughout the EU.

We will never endorse the retroactive removal of acquired rights. The European Parliament will reserve its right to reject any agreement that treats EU citizens, regardless of their nationality, less favourably than they are at present."

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David Davis and Michel Barnier give a press conference at the end of a meeting at EU Commission in Brussels

The MEPs added: [The offer] is even in contradiction with the Vote Leave manifesto which promised it would treat EU citizens no less favourably than at present.

Mr Verhofstadt also pledged that he and other MEPs will help steer negotiations despite divorce talks being led by the European Commission and Michel Barnier, Brussels chief Brexit negotiator.

A major new document published by the Home Office last month outlined Britain's proposals on the status of EU nationals.

It revealed that any EU citizen living in the UK for five years at a specified cut-off date will be granted "settled status". This means they have the same access to healthcare, education, pensions and benefits as UK citizens.

EU citizens who arrive after the cut-off point will be given two years to "regularise their status". And an ID card system may be introduced so EU citizens can access public services such as the NHS.

Jean-Claude Junckers European Commission published its most detailed yet proposals on how it wants to see European Union citizens see protected during the Brexit negotiations.

Eurocrats are demanding that current rights, including access to benefits, are kept for a huge number of people, some with dubious connections to the UK.

Under the EUs guidelines that deal would also have to cover EU citizens who have worked here in the UK in the past, ludicrously even if they commuted and never actually lived here.

On top of that, Brussels is insisting that there can be no cut off date ahead of Brexit meaning that people who arrived the day before Britain leaves would be allowed to stay indefinitely.

And they would be allowed to bring current and future family members to live with them at any time, which could include grandchildren not even born yet.

All of these citizens would have their rights supervised by the Luxembourg-based ECJ, meaning Britain would not be truly free of EU lawmakers.

Continued here:
EU backs down! Verhofstadt admits bloc would concede ECJ power over citizens' rights in UK - Express.co.uk