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| British in Europe's letter to the PM (full letter) |
On 6 February the four BiE groups in Spain (EuroCitizens, Bremain in Spain, Brexpats Hear Our Voice and ECREU) wrote to HMA Simon Manley raising serious issues related to a no-deal scenario. The ambassador has replied to us and we hope to have a meeting with him soon.
Dear Ambassador,
We are writing to express our
concern about the situation which the 77,000 UK pensioners in Spain could face
in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We attach a letter to Theresa May from the
coalition British
in Europe about current contingency plans for healthcare and
pensions uprating, for your information and to highlight the real risk of a
humanitarian disaster for a sizable proportion of the 314,000 legally resident
UK citizens in Spain.
A recent UK government notification
blithely informs Britons in the EU that, in the event of no deal, the S1 scheme
will become invalid on 30 March. It states that ‘your access to healthcare may
change’ and ‘you should buy healthcare insurance in the country you live in’.
As the government must be well aware, private medical insurance will be beyond
the reach of many UK pensioners because, even if granted, the cost would be
prohibitive for elderly people with chronic illnesses. We therefore echo
British in Europe’s demand for HMG to unilaterally guarantee the S1 scheme in a
no-deal scenario.
A related issue, mentioned in
BiE’s letter, is that of pensions uprating. The UK government has promised to
continue this for another year, after which it will be ‘subject to
reciprocity’. This is a specious stipulation as uprating is entirely within the
grant of HMG. In addition, the freezing of pensions would be to move the
goalposts for the thousands of retirees who moved to Spain as EU citizens,
taking into consideration that their income would be annually adjusted for
inflation. Thus we would like the UK government to commit to continued pension
uprating for all those Britons who moved to the EU in good faith as well as for
Spanish returnees with UK pensions.
The aforementioned HMG
notification also says that the government is ‘seeking agreement’ with EU
Member States for the continuation of reciprocal healthcare agreements in the
event of no deal. We would be interested to know how such negotiations can take
place when social security and healthcare coordination is an EU competence
which has so far only been dealt with in EU-UK negotiations. We would also like
to find out what, if any, progress has been made in these areas between the
Spanish and British governments. We applaud the recent bilateral agreements on
political rights, but we are sure you would agree that there is little point in
having the right to vote if you cannot access the healthcare needed to keep you
alive.
As you know, on January 14 the
Spanish government published a website with its broad proposals for citizens’
rights for Britons in Spain in the case of no deal. For example, there is a
promise that ‘contingency measures are planned to guarantee healthcare provision
for British citizens in Spain’ from 30 March. The Spanish government has
promised to publish details of enabling legislation for contingency planning in
February and we are having a meeting with the Foreign Ministry today. However,
we would also be grateful if the UK Embassy could make the point to the Spanish
government that any further delays in providing this information will prolong
uncertainty and anguish amongst British residents.
We would like to ask you, as
our representative in Spain, what contingency plans the UK Embassy has for
dealing with a no-deal scenario. This could be a disaster for Britons in Spain unless
a series of measures are taken urgently. Firstly, unilateral guarantees should
be made by HMG on the S1 scheme and pensions uprating. Secondly, bilateral
cooperation must be quickly established on social security and healthcare.
Thirdly, Spanish contingency measures need to effectively deal with these
issues as well as the processing of our new status as third-country nationals and
the guaranteeing of our existing rights.
Theresa
May has repeatedly made a ‘total and dedicated commitment’ to protecting UK
citizens in the EU. We would like you to help us to hold her to this promise by
communicating to the UK government our concerns and to ensure that these issues
are taken up as a matter of priority.
Yours sincerely,
BiE groups in Spain
