What Brexit means?

The United Kingdom left European Union on February 1, 2020. The withdrawal agreement marked the beginning of a transitional period until the end of 2020, during which the current EU rules will be continued and the future relationship will be negotiated.

The purpose of the withdrawal agreement is to ensure the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU. The withdrawal agreement will, among other things, safeguard the residence, employment and social security rights of EU citizens residing in the UK and UK citizens residing in the EU for life if they have settled in the UK or the EU before the end of the transition period.

With regard to persons moving to each other’s territory after 31 December 2020, free movement will end and restrictions will be placed on the entry and rights of EU and UK citizens.

Those EU citizens who move to the United Kingdom under the new system are no longer covered by the coordination of social security schemes based on the current rules of the EU. The same applies to UK citizens moving to the EU unless they are subject to specific rules applicable to third-country nationals.

There will no longer be comprehensive cross-border social security based on EU rules, as EU rules no longer apply. Also, a possible future relationship agreement with the United Kingdom would only provide for certain social security rights. The rules that will apply in future to, for example, healthcare costs or pension rights will depend on the outcome of the negotiations on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

We will report on Brexit issues as soon as there are more specific agreements.