British citizens should retain EU rights, says European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt
The European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator has said British citizens should be able to retain EU membership benefits.
Guy Verhofstadt, who described the EU referendum result as a “tragedy”, wants a system in which Brits can retain freedom to travel in the continent and vote in European elections.
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“All British citizens today have also EU citizenship,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union…
“We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it.”
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Verhofstadt also told the BBC he has received more than 1,000 letters from British citizens who do not want to lose their access to “European civilisation”.
Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50, kicking off the Brexit negotiation process, by the end of this month.