Abstract
This article examines the negotiations to secure social security and healthcare rights after Brexit for people who have exercised their right to free movement or move between the EU and UK in the future. The analysis is based upon examination of drafts of the Withdrawal Agreement informed by interviews with senior policy makers involved in the Brexit negotiations. The article finds that while persons and benefits included in the Withdrawal Agreement mirror those of the current Coordinating Regulations the procedure for identifying eligibility is complicated and future arrangements might not provide comprehensive coverage and legal certainty.
Highlights
On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom (UK) Government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union2 to initiate the process of leaving, which triggered a two-year negotiating window that ended on 29 March 2019
The analysis is part of a longitudinal study6 based upon examination of iterations of the draft Withdrawal Agreement7 guided and informed by seven interviews8 with senior policy makers involved in the Brexit negotiations in five European Union (EU) member countries between July 2017 and July 2019—Austria (2017, 2018), Finland (2017, 2019), Poland (2019), Spain (2017) and the United Kingdom (2018)
The article finds that while the persons and benefits included in social security coordination under the Withdrawal Agreement mirror those of the current Coordinating Regulations11 the procedure for identifying eligibility is complicated by the interface between the past and the future, and future arrangements might not provide comprehensive coverage and legal certainty for people who have already exercised their
Summary
The coordination of social security and healthcare in the European Union (EU) in the context of free movement of workers and citizens was at the centre of the debate in the lead up to the Referendum on 23 June 2016 in which the United Kingdom (UK) voted by a narrow margin to leave the EU. Almost one year later, on 29 March 2017, the UK Government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to initiate the process of leaving, which triggered a two-year negotiating window that ended on 29 March 2019. The coordination of social security and healthcare in the European Union (EU) in the context of free movement of workers and citizens was at the centre of the debate in the lead up to the Referendum on 23 June 2016 in which the United Kingdom (UK) voted by a narrow margin to leave the EU.. This article examines the process to secure a new arrangement including what has been agreed in the Withdrawal Agreement with respect to the coordination of social security and healthcare rights for people who have exercised their right of free movement between the UK and the EU27 at the time of the UK’s withdrawal, and future scenarios for coordination including in the event of a ‘No deal’ Brexit. The article contributes to literature on EU law and policy on coordination of social security and healthcare, policy design and governance, and the UK and EU’s approaches to the negotiations
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