Guy Verhofstadt – the top Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament is willing to guarantee the benefits of the European Union citizenship to Brittons beyond the UK formal departure from the block..

Guy Verhofstadt in an interview to the BBC radio said last year’s Brexit vote was a tragedy for both the UK and the EU but he hoped to convince European leaders to allow Britons to retain a set of rights if they were applied for on an individual basis.

Verhofstadt, a liberal (ALDE), and a federalist, noted that all British citizens as EU citizens currently enjoy benefits such as consular aid, participation in European elections and freedom of travel.

“We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it,” he said. The same time he said  there were several issues on which the European Parliament was not prepared to compromise and he warned it could use its power to veto a deal if disagrees.