Brexit negotiations breakthrough - at last.

Brexit negotiations breakthrough - at last. | Eric Vidal

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma08/12/2017 00:00
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Theresa May has said this morning (Friday) that the deal struck with the EU "will guarantee the rights of more than three million EU citizens living in the UK and of a million UK citizens living in the EU. EU citizens living in the UK will have their rights enshrined in UK law and enforced by British courts. They will be able to go on living their lives as before."

The deal means that workers from the EU and their families will be able to live and work in the UK in line with existing principles of freedom of movement. UK citizens in EU countries will have the same guarantees.

The deadline had been looming for May and her government. She needed a deal in order to move onto the next phase of talks and especially those to do with free trade. Sufficient progress was demanded by the EU on citizens' rights, the "divorce bill" and the Northern Ireland border in order to advance the negotiations.

There is to be no "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic, which will allow the maintenance of the "constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom". Reaction from the leader of the DUP, Arlene Foster, was positive - there is "no red line down the Irish Sea" - while the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, believes the deal to be a "very good outcome for everyone on the island of Ireland".