Today the Brexit negotiators reached an agreement on phase 1 of the orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

Apart from other things the joint report includes the agreement that social security coordination rules as set-out in Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and (EC) No 987/2009 will continue to apply on:

  • Union citizens who on the actual withdrawal date are or have been subject to UK legislation
  • UK nationals who on the actual withdrawal date are or have been subject to the legislation of an EU27 Member State, and
  • EU27 and UK nationals within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement by virtue of residence.

Those rules will also apply, for the purposes of aggregation of periods of social security insurance, to Union and UK citizens having worked or resided in the UK or in an EU27 Member State in the past.

Rules for healthcare, including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme, will follow Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. Persons as mentioned above will continue to be eligible for healthcare reimbursement, including under the EHIC scheme, as long as that stay, residence or treatment continues.