Protecting citizens’ access to social security in case of no-deal Brexit

The text adopted on Tuesday by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee aims to safeguard entitlements to social security benefits based on insurance, employment or residence acquired before UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

These contingency measures would apply to EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens leaving in one of the 27 member states who have acquired social entitlements due to the free movement of people, and guarantee they do not lose those entitlements in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The measures will be adopted unilaterally by the EU and enter into force only if the UK leaves the EU with no withdrawal agreement in place.

MEPs also required the European Commission to draw up a report to assess how the measures have been implemented one year after application of the regulation, and submit it to Parliament and Council.

Next steps

The agreed measures, adopted by 36 to 1 with no abstentions, will need to be confirmed by a vote in the 11-14 March plenary session and the legislation to be published before the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Further information

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