Faced with the growing threat of a no-deal Brexit on 29 March, on Wednesday 30 January the European Commission adopted a new emergency package concerning the Erasmus+programme, social security coordination and the European Union budget.
With regard to the Erasmus+programme, the measures adopted provide that young EU and UK nationals participating in the programme on 30 March 2019, i.e. the day after the official date of Brexit, may complete their studies and continue to receive the corresponding funding or grants.
The Commission estimates that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, this measure will concern 21,000 young people: 7,000 British nationals in one of the 27 EU Member States (excluding the United Kingdom) and 14,000 nationals from the 27 EU Member States in the United Kingdom.
On social issues, the Commission's proposal aims to ensure that all Member States implement the fundamental principles of social security coordination in the EU, namely equal treatment, assimilation and aggregation of insurance periods.
It provides that the authorities of the Member States continue, after Brexit, to take into account periods of insurance, self-employment or residence in the United Kingdom before withdrawal, in calculating social security benefits.
In practice, after Brexit, if a citizen of one of the 27 Member States of the Union has, for example, worked in the United Kingdom for ten years before Brexit, the relevant authorities of the Member State in which the citizen retires must take this period into account when calculating pension rights.
Finally, some measures aim to mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit for a large number of sectors receiving EU funding, such as research, innovation and agriculture.
The Commission is therefore proposing a Council Regulation to make the payment of European funds to UK beneficiaries conditional on the United Kingdom's compliance with its financial obligations for 2019 under the EU budget.
In its proposal, the Commission indicates that the United Kingdom will have until 18 April 2019 at the latest, just over two weeks after the date of Brexit, to confirm in writing that it will continue to contribute to the European budget in 2019.
Otherwise, the EU will stop paying money to any UK-based person or entity who receives EU funds under its current contracts.
In the absence of an agreement, the EU would remain, through this proposal, in a position to honour its financial commitments to UK beneficiaries under contracts signed and decisions taken before 30 March 2019, provided that the United Kingdom complies with its obligations under the 2019 EU budget and accepts the necessary audits and controls.
It should be noted that these issues are distinct from the Financial Regulation agreed between the EU and the United Kingdom in a no-deal Brexit scenario.
Measures on Erasmus+ and on the principles related to the coordination of social security systems will be subject to the co-decision procedure, unlike the budgetary measures that remain in the hands of the Council. They follow the publication of a number of other emergency measures published on 19 December 2018 (see EUROPE 12163), as well as those published on 23 January 2019 in the fisheries sector (see EUROPE 12178). The objective remains the same: to minimise the harmful effects of a no-deal Brexit.
See the budget proposal: https://bit.ly/2S1Krfj. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot - intern)