24 June, 2017
Macron said it is for Barnier to examine the offer.
Although May's offer was described by herself as 'fair and serious,' many have argued that the proposal is unjust.
"It is a first good step which we appreciate", said Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.
The issue is a matter of concern for thousands of people from the erstwhile Portuguese-ruled territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, who opted for Portuguese citizenship and moved to the UK. "This work should take precedence over Brexit negotiations".
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who now holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, warned of the danger of "pitfalls", in which people were "treated differently" depending on when they arrived in Britain.
The European Union has made the rights of an estimated three million Europeans living in Britain a priority; their futures have been thrown into doubt by its shock vote a year ago to leave the 28-nation bloc.
In a separate news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron urged the member states to do more in this regard, with Macron saying the migration crisis was not only for some countries, and European Union states should deal with it jointly.
"Based on the information we have so far, Theresa May's announcement falls short of our expectations and is unacceptable in its current form", the organization said in a news release Thursday evening.
The EU wants to boost support for conflict-ravaged Libya as the number of people fleeing Africa from there for better lives in Europe continues to rise.
Underlining that Brexit was not a main discussion point at the summit, Tusk said "the UK's offer is below our expectations" and that "it risks worsening the situation of citizens".
In its position paper on EU rights published this month, the European Commission said the court should have "full jurisdiction" over such citizens' rights.
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker expressed his disappointment as well, calling May's proposal "a first step" but "insufficient".
Elements of the proposals are likely to be contested by Brussels, including the cut-off date for entitlement to stay in the United Kingdom and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
And their response, once May explained her proposal, ranged from "a good start" by Germany's Angela Merkel to "not sufficient" and "vague", lacking clarity and detail.
The opinion of the European parliament is important since the legislature will have to approve any Brexit deal. "Of course people should at least have the right to stay, that is a minimum and personally I can not imagine things differently", he said speaking in Paris on Friday. She laid out benchmarks for their rights and said they should be shielded from excessive harm because of the political divorce.
Leaders of Poland, France, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia discussed Brexit and May's proposals at a meeting Friday on the sidelines of the summit.
European leaders had warned there would be no debate at the summit on the plan for citizens' rights, as the Brexit negotiations are being conducted separately.
As there has been little progress in the government-forming talks since then, reporters on Friday questioned whether May had a strong enough mandate to hold any talks on key issues.
May said she wanted to strike an agreement as quickly as possible, but acknowledged that the two sides were some way apart on their opening stances on citizens' rights.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the plans left too many unanswered questions.
