Brexit negotiators recently agreed phase 1 of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and included agreement on the social security position in their report.
The intention appears to be for the UK to be treated as an EU Member State for social security purposes (i.e. the same position as Switzerland) and therefore for Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and (EC) No 987/2009 to continue to apply to:
· EU citizens who are or have been subject to UK legislation on the withdrawal date
· UK nationals who are or have been subject to the legislation of an EU27 Member State on the withdrawal date
· EU27 and UK national within the withdrawal agreement by virtue of residence
· EU and UK citizens having worked or resided in the UK or in an EU27 Member State in the past.
This means that the aggregation of periods of social security insurance for benefit purposes should continue to operate in the same way as they do now and A1 certificates of coverage for social security purposes should continue to be issued.
Similarly, the rules for healthcare will continue to apply as at present, including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme, following Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. This will mean that people in the groups above should continue to receive the same treatment as they do currently.
