“In your letter you state that the European commission, and in particular [Michel] Barnier, are attempting to prevent negotiations, thereby creating ‘anxiety and uncertainty for the UK and EU citizens living in one another’s territories’,” he wrote.“It is a very interesting argument; the only problem being that it had nothing to do with reality.”
Tusk suggests the only source for these anxieties and uncertainty is Britain’s decision to leave the EU. He pointed out that the rights British politicians are calling on the EU to guarantee—the free movement of people—was largely rejected by Britain, which voted for Brexit. Tusk reaffirmed that the EU will not begin negotiations until Britain invokes Article 50; the legal process that starts a country’s withdrawal from the EU.
The initial letter to Tusk was signed by 80 British MPs, including leading members of the leave campaign Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith, which called on the EU to discuss the issue of reciprocal rights before Article 50 was invoked. But since voting to leave the EU, British calls for preparatory talks have largely been ignored.
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