PRAGUE (AP) — Britain’s Brexit minister said Tuesday that progress has been made in talks with the European Union on the rights of citizens living in each other’s nations once the country leaves the bloc.
But after meeting Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, David Davis said disagreements remain over the role of the European Court of Justice. The EU wants the court to be the final arbiter on many issues after a Brexit agreement, something Britain rejects.
Davis said his government wants a quick deal on the rights of one million U.K. citizens living in the EU, and three million EU citizens living in Britain.
“We want to do this quickly as a moral imperative because we want to take away the anxiety of all of those four million people and give them some certainty in the future,” he said.
He noted that other top issues in negotiations “are making progress.”
Those issues include how much Britain will pay to meet its obligations as part of any Brexit deal, and how to manage the border with Ireland.
But he said Britain was not willing to give the right to the EU court to become an ultimate arbiter.
“When, for example, we strike a deal, let’s say, with the United States we don’t give the United States’ Supreme Court rights in Britain to enforce that. And the same with any other foreign power.”
He said that “any future arrangements will be subject … to U.K. Parliament’s approval.”
In a statement in support of the European Court of Justice, the European Parliament said on Tuesday it wants Britain’s Brexit deal to be directly enforceable and to “include a mechanism in which the European Court of Justice can play its full role.”
The European Parliament, which has the right to veto any future Brexit deal, said progress on one issue is not enough.