Theresa May to address EU leaders on Brexit plans
2 min read
Theresa May will today set out more details of the UK's Brexit plans at a summit of EU leaders.
The issue of rights for EU nationals living in the UK and British citizens on the continent is expected to be top of the agenda at the Brussels talks.
It is the first meeting of the EU Council since the Prime Minister lost her Commons majority in the general election.
Mrs May has previously called for this area to be resolved as early on as possible in the negotiations, which kicked off on Monday with a meeting between Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.
The Government is expected to publish more details of its plans next Monday.
The heads of the remaining EU countries will also hold a brief meeting without Mrs May, where the subject of relocating EU agencies currently based in the UK is expected to be discussed.
Today's summit comes after a Queen's Speech yesterday heavily focused on Brexit, with proposed bills to reshape Britain's regulatory framework in areas such as immigration, fishing, agriculture and the nuclear industry.
The Government also included the so-called Great Repeal Bill, which will transpose existing EU laws into UK statute.
But Mrs May faces a struggle to pass any legislation, with no parliamentary majority and a deal still yet to be reached on a confidence and supply arragement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.
The path to Brexit may also be made more difficult by the Scottish Parliament and the House of Lords, who could try to block legislation.
The Prime Minister admitted in a Commons debate yesterday that there "is a possibility that a legislative consent motion might be required", meaning Holyrood could potentially scupper Brexit legislation.
There are further question marks as to whether the Salisbury Convention, which stops the Lords from blocking a governing party's manifesto commitments, still applies when the Government does not command a Commons majority.
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