22/06/2017 Outside Source

This is Outside Source, live from the EU Summit in Brussels,

Where we have had breaking news. Theresa May has confirmed that EU

citizens will be allowed to remain after Brexit is complete. It is the

Prime Minister's first appearance in Brussels since she lost a majority

in parliament after the recent election.

with renewed optimism, even to the point of leading

Who knows? You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one!

Hello, BBC, how are you? I am fine. All the bloc's biggest

leaders are here - migration and jobs are all high

on the agenda. After a number of recent

terror attacks in Europe - including one here in Brussels

just two days ago - pressure will be on leaders

to combat the threat. If you have any questions, whether

on the breaking news about EU citizens in the UK, or about Brexit

in general, send it my way. Our contact details are on the screen

throughout the programme. In the last few minutes, we have

learned that UK Prime Minister Theresa May, whom we knew would be

speaking to other EU leaders about the issue of citizens' rights, well,

she said that EU citizens currently living in the UK will be allowed to

stay after Brexit, but she has rejected calls by the EU for a

European courts to oversee these rights. Let's bring in Damian, who

has been working on the story all day long. Tell us more. It is

interesting. Theresa May finished her breathing in the last few

minutes, so we have all been passed the details. In the past, she was

talking about a big and generous offer. What she has tabled, she

said, is a fair and serious offer, which I think when you look at it

will come in below the EU expectation, so this will be tricky.

Why is it coming in below expectations? There are several

areas of contention. The first, who will best apply to? She says it will

apply to any EU citizen living in the UK who is there lawfully. There

will be questions, and the devil will be in the detail. She says you

will be able to get a settled status. In UK law, I think that is

called a definite leave to remain. Will it apply to students, to

someone who is undocumented, to someone who is there not working but

caring for someone else, will it apply to their children? EU law says

the rights pass to your children. EU law says it will apply to your wife.

There are all sorts of people who would lose rights under this.

Another difficulty, who governs this. She has said British courts,

they have said EU court. And this is all with reference to EU citizens in

the UK, and I may be some watching right now. There are also people

across Europe watching on BBC World News thinking, where do we fit into

this? Good question. Theresa May says she wants reciprocal rights,

the same sorts of rights guaranteed for British people in Europe. The EU

has said it would be willing to guarantee full rights, the ones that

everyone has today, in perpetuity. The EU still has on the table an

offer that is higher and offers more rights further into the future. What

will this UK offer mean for UK citizens and what will the EU side

say about that? We don't know. Also, which rights? There are quite a few!

The right to work, the right to health care, to a pension and social

security benefits. The EU will want to look at that very carefully as

well. Thank you very much. If you get more details, please come back.

Significant developments here, with Theresa May confirming that EU

citizens currently in the UK will be able to remain after Brexit. As

Damian has just said, this is an issue that is far from being

resolved. If you're thinking, perhaps they are talking about it

now, they are not. Theresa May has left for the day, and it was always

made clear this would not be negotiated. Theresa May made that

this -- made a statement, there was no discussion. It will be picked up

by the negotiating teams. That will not happen at this summit. Brexit is

a big issue here at this EU summit, and it has been at every EU summit

since this time last year. There is a lot of discussion about

the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. And

then there is the divorce Bill, the figure that the UK may have to pay

to get out of its long-term financial commitments to the

European Union. Some big issues to grapple with. Before we go further,

let me play you a little bit of what Theresa May told the BBC earlier.

I will set out today clearly how the United Kingdom proposes to protect

the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, and see the rights of UK

residents living in Europe protected. It has been an important

issue, and we wanted it to be one of the early issues considered in the

negotiations. That is now the case, that work is starting, and we will

step out -- set out how rights will be protected for EU citizens in the

United Kingdom. That was the Prime Minister arriving at the European

Council. President of the European Council

Donald Tusk appears to still be You hear different predictions

coming from different people about the possible outcome of these

negotiations. Hard Brexit, soft Brexit, or no Deal. Some of my

British friends have asked me whether Brexit could be reversed,

and whether I could imagine an outcome whether UK stays part of the

EU. I told than that in fact -- I told them that in fact the European

Union was built on dreams that seemed impossible to achieve. So,

who knows? You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one!

Yes, that's right, Donald Tusk quoting John Lennon. He is hinting

that the UK could make a U-turn on this. Let's bring in Chris Morris,

who often helps us on European matters. Every time I mention that a

senior EU figure has even hinted that a U-turn might be a puzzle,

lots of viewers who support a Brexit come back and say, what are they

doing, this isn't helpful. If you are an EU leader and you are asked

at the door is still open, in a sense, it would make more news if

you said the door was completely closed. It was perhaps a deliberate

message being sent out to those who would like a slightly different type

of Brexit than the one being promoted by Theresa May. I'm not

sure it will be seen by all his EU colleagues as a helpful thing to say

at the moment, because a lot of them are saying, it has been one year

since the referendum, let's get on with it. Mr Tusk has his position

and he likes putting out these lines occasionally. I'm not sure there is

an expectation of a U-turn. I think most people think Brexit will

happen. The question is, what type of Brexit and under what conditions?

Picking up on that point, I was surprised to hear the Netherlands

Prime Minister saying earlier that it would be great to know exactly it

what kind of Brexit Britain wants. That's astonishing. And that was one

of the messages of the recent UK election. We still haven't come to a

determination about what kind of Brexit we want. Don't forget what

the question was in the referendum last year: Do you want to remain in

the EU do you want to leave? It did not discuss details of the single

market, customs union, soft or hard Brexit. One of the big things we

will see in the next few months, both within the UK Parliament and

within the Conservative Party, is manoeuvring proposition as people

try and decide what we are going to do for Brexit, and what bits of the

EU might we do business with. Critically, what kind of transition

to get us from where we are now to where we might be in the future? It

is all up for grabs. Politics in the UK has never been so fluid. We were

in pretty much the same spot a year ago just after Brexit, and the mood

here was not great, frankly. Contrast that with the message, and

from the new leaders of Ireland and France, and you wonder if things

have shifted. I wonder if you buy that, a fundamental shift? As you

say, president macro, and a new leader in Ireland, -- Emmanuel

Macron. There are some positive signs, even though the fundamental

architecture of the Eurozone still need quite a bit of work. There are

splits. In the response to Brexit, we saw genuine unity between the

other 27. I don't think I have seen quite that level of unity on any

other subject. There are other issues up legal rights, human

rights, on which you can see splits between some of the old countries in

Western Europe and the new countries in Eastern Europe. Emmanuel Macron

seems to be putting down markers in the sand to countries such as

Poland, saying this is a community values, and if we don't share values

in the future, it could become a problem. Chris, don't go far, I have

more questions. As have those of you watching.

If you want to contact us, our contact details are on screen. This

is where a lot of people who fundamentally believe in the idea of

the EU go about their work. I am in the European Council, just a couple

of hundred meters away from the European Commission, the civil

service of the EU, and very close to one of the European Parliaments as

well. What is interesting is that leader after leader arriving today

was emphasising that we're not just here to talk about Brexit, and far

from it. The issues that they raised as priorities: Migration - there are

still many thousands of people coming into the EU - and how the EU

discourages people from doing that or manages them when they arrive is

still a pressing issue. Then there is defence and security. There are

regular terror attacks in the EU at the moment. And there are lots of

questions about how the EU organises defence. Then there is the economy -

jobs and growth getting a lot of emphasis. Let's bring Chris back in

on the issue of the fence, because I think people in the UK will be quite

surprised to see the EU moving so far so fast on this. There are many

issues, but one of them on which the UK has held back the rest of the EU

has been defence. For years, the UK has been the country saying, we have

Nato, we don't need more integrated structures at EU level. It is

duplication and a waste of money, and we are not comfortable with it.

With the UK on the way out, we think, then it means that the big

impediment to moving forward on European defence cooperation has

gone, and Germany and France are particularly keen on it. We have

seen movement and we will see movement over the course of the rest

of this year as well. I think it is something that will be significant.

Jean-Claude Juncker said today that most of the research and development

was done at national level, and why are we doing that in a union of 28,

soon-to-be 27, countries? There are things that we could do together to

save money and resources, and produce better results. Why do we

have 19 different types of tank when we could have one or two? We will

come back to you in a minute. I have got a message saying: Is Nigel

Farage there? I saw him walking in and asked him what he made of how

Brexit is going. He said, it was a terrible idea to have that election.

The decision has been taken and now it is being undermined. He is in

Brussels, still a member of the European Parliament. Keep the

questions coming. Safety officials are carrying out

urgent checks on hundreds of high rise buildings across the UK

to ensure there is no repeat of the fire which spread

through Grenfell Tower. Seven residential blocks in four

local authority areas have been found to have cladding

which could catch fire. Panels are already being removed

from some high rise Dozens of MPs questioned

the Prime Minister about the issue in the Commons this morning,

including this intervention Was cladding of the type used in

Grenfell Tower compliant with the fire safety and building regulations

applicable at the time when the refurbishment was undertaken - yes

or no? They are testing the cladding on the building, and they expect to

make the results of this public in the next, I think, in the next 48

hours. This is Outside Source,

live from the BBC newsroom. Theresa May has said in the last few

minutes that she will allow EU citizens living in the UK for five

years the right to stay, but she has rejected the EU call for the

European Court to oversee those rights.

Let's take a break from European politics and talk about American

politics. The US Senate has finally revealed

its plan to replace Obamacare. This has been largely fashioned by

the Republicans. Let's begin by hearing Senator Mitch McConnell.

We agree on the need to free Americans from Obamacare's policies.

We will repeal it so that Americans are no longer forced to buy

insurance that they don't need or can't afford. We will repeal the

employer mandates that Americans no longer see their hours and take home

pay cut by employers because of it. We agree on the need to improve the

affordability of health insurance and policies contained in the

discussion draft will do that. We will eliminate costly Obamacare

taxes that are passed onto consumers so we can put downward pressure

premiums. And this is the perspective from the Democrats.

The Senate Republican bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing. We are

potentially voting on it in one week. No committee hearings, no

amendments in committee, no debate on the floor, save for ten measly

hours on one of the most important bills we are dealing with in

decades. Hi, Laura. I think some people were

expecting some bigger changes to this Bill? I think a number of

people were wondering what kind of draft would come out, and what we

have seen is basically quite similar to what the House of Representatives

came out with. There are some key changes. The cats that the House

proposed to Medicaid, the system for the poorest in America -- beat cuts

to that are not as deep and they roll-out over a longer period, so

they will eventually bite, which is one of the concerns of health groups

and Democrats, who say there will be a tax cut for the wealthy in the US.

The reason they are cutting back taxes because that is what fun is

the Affordable Care Act. They are cutting taxes for the wealthy, and

yet the poorest in America, who require health care, might not get

the care they need under this bill, and that is the main criticism you

are seeing from the Democrat side. And is this a done deal, Bora?

Earlier in the year, there were a rather -- there were other efforts

that fell down because the Republicans couldn't get their

numbers together. Well, well, we will have to wait and see. One of

the reasons why this has all been drafted behind closed doors is to

stop the controversy that has dogged Republicans over this key campaign

pledge. They simply cannot agree, and when it comes to this bill, it

is no different. You have already had those from the far right saying

this does not go far enough, that this is Obamacare - light. Then you

have more moderate conservatives saying that this goes too far and

made cut health care for women. When it comes to those two sides, they

will have to reconcile. -- it may cut health care for women. The

Congressional budget office will look at this Bill, an independent

body, and try to figure out how many Americans will lose health care.

Under the previous draft, they said 23 million Americans. So, early next

week, expect that score, and that could come the whole vote. Laura,

thanks for taking us through that. I am live that the EU Council.

Theresa May has just announced that EU citizens who have been in the UK

for five years will be able to remain beyond the point of Brexit.

This is a place unlike any other that I have reported on. It is vast,

like a rabbit warren, there are various speeches and events relating

to the different leaders who are here.

I've spent the day walking around this building,

speaking to the EU's leaders and trying to get answers from them.

There is a new building and a new red carpet here, and it affords all

the leaders more time to think about whether they want to stop for those

of us gathered to ask questions, or not. Chancellor Merkel, BBC News -

can Brexit be done in two years? What are you hoping to hear from

Theresa May later? Are you satisfied with the

cooperation you're getting from the UK on security measures? I hope to

keep a good relation with the UK for security, but also for the future of

Europe. This is the cafeteria where you see journalists and sometimes

politicians. Last year, just over there, Nigel Farage bought a pint of

beer and was enjoying celebrating Brexit. He is not in a mood to

celebrate since the last UK election result. If you come over here and we

leave the journalists behind, as you head through, you can see there are

rooms where people are working, but all over, we're left with things

like this, which give us the indicated programme for the media

and briefings we can expect. This is the press bit at the European

Council - absolutely huge, full of journalists from all over the EU. On

the screens, we have feeds coming in from press conferences that are

happening. That is the president of the European Parliament, whom I

spoke to earlier. And there is a big huddle in the middle of this floor,

where politicians will give briefings to journalists. That press

conference I just showed you a pretty sure was taking place in the

main conference rooms. It is in this room here for stop Jean-Claude

Juncker, president of the European Commission, and Donald Tusk,

president of the European Council. It is from the press conferences

that the politicians come up the stairs and back out into the press

bit on the way to their cars. So, this little walkway is really

important. I will be doing Outside Source from here, and if you're

lucky, politicians might pass by as you are reporting an stop a

conversation. Hello, how are you? I am fine. You said you don't have

illusions in politics, but do you have dreams that perhaps Brexit may

not happen? That is a decision from people to take, but not me. What

about staying in the single market? We will see in the course of the

negotiations. That was Jean-Claude Juncker speaking to me earlier. We

have an awful lot of questions. Let's work through them with the

help of Chris Morris. Paula is watching and saying, without

details, this brings no clarity and adds nothing to the vague statements

of last year with reference to the EU citizens in the UK. We are still

short on quite a lot of detail, aren't we? Yes, we are. We have had

a more details omission from the EU side. -- a more detailed submission.

One question is, what would be the legal basis on which these rights

would be guaranteed? The EU side wanted to be the European Court of

Justice, whereas Mrs May and the Government have said they don't

think the ECJ should play that role. There are other questions still

unanswered, and we may see more detail when these things are made

public on Monday, but what happens to family members outside the UK at

the moment and the descendants of people given this new settled

status? Don't forget, this is just a British proposal, not the end of the

line. Arguably, the proposal from the EU as it stands is more generous

than what we have heard from Theresa May. Raj says, are the rules from

migration at the moment the same as they have ever been? Nothing will

change until the day the EU leaves. As long as the UK is a member of the

EU, and this phrase has been repeated a lot, it enjoys the same

rights and responsibility, which means that free movement continues

until the day we leave, and until we know what is in a transition period,

and even possibly a little longer beyond that. Just to remind you

watching, this was not a regular dinner. Theresa May has introduced

this idea, but the EU have been clear that they would not discuss

this at the dinner this evening. That will wait for the formal

discussions between the UK and the EU. Keep the questions coming and we

will get back to them in the next 30 minutes.