All the latest Brexit news with regard to the state pension can be found right here:
“For British expats living in the EU to continue receiving their annual state pension increases, the UK will need to agree a reciprocal arrangement with the EU or strike deals with individual states. It is already estimated the Treasury saves around half‐a‐billion pounds a year from pensioners excluded from the increases. This could easily double if pensioners in the EU were to be treated similarly.”
– Graham Keysell, Director,The Spectrum IFA Group (France)
“Bilateral agreements are not necessary in order for pensions paid outside Great Britain and the EU to be uprated”.
– Department of Work and Pensions spokesman in 2013 as a result of a Freedom of Information Request
On June 23rd, 2016, the British people took a seismic decision in voting to leave the European Union (EU), and the European Economic Area (EEA). This triggered a complete Government reorganization, with David Cameron stepping down as Prime Minister and the Conservative Party electing Theresa May as the new Prime Minister. She has said that she will set Article 50 in motion – the two year time clock will start clicking from then….
According to government statistics there are over 490,000 British pensioners living in the EEA (EU plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) and once the dust has settled on the Brexit negotiations, we will know if they will be joining the over 544,000 British pensioners who already have their pensions “frozen” – that is to say that they will no longer receive the annual indexation to their state pension. The table below shows on a country by country basis the number of pensioners in the EEA who are receiving a UK state pension:
| Pensioners living in the EEA and being paid a UK State Pension | ||||||||||
| Country | Number of Pensioners | % | Amount Paid (£’000) | % | Country | Number of Pensioners | % | Amount Paid (£’000) | % | |
| Ireland | 135,080 | 27.5% | £411,054 | 21% | Poland | 2,790 | 0.6% | £9,670 | 1% | |
| Spain | 108,310 | 22.1% | £591,992 | 31% | Finland | 1,570 | 0.3% | £4,061 | 0% | |
| France | 66,100 | 13.5% | £351,179 | 18% | Bulgaria | 1,150 | 0.2% | £6,991 | 0% | |
| Germany | 42,820 | 8.7% | £89,088 | 5% | Hungary | 880 | 0.2% | £4,509 | 0% | |
| Italy | 37,340 | 7.6% | £96,579 | 5% | The Czech Republic | 660 | 0.1% | £2,951 | 0% | |
| Cyprus | 18,840 | 3.8% | £106,285 | 6% | Luxembourg | 600 | 0.1% | £2,248 | 0% | |
| Netherlands | 12,920 | 2.6% | £31,214 | 2% | Republic of Croatia | 590 | 0.1% | £1,541 | 0% | |
| Switzerland | 11,890 | 2.4% | £26,870 | 1% | Republic of Lithuania | 460 | 0.1% | £866 | 0% | |
| Portugal | 10,580 | 2.2% | £57,063 | 3% | The Slovak Republic | 350 | 0.1% | £801 | 0% | |
| Malta | 6,420 | 1.3% | £31,107 | 2% | Republic of Slovenia | 300 | 0.1% | £798 | 0% | |
| Greece | 5,970 | 1.2% | £30,175 | 2% | Republic of Latvia | 250 | 0.1% | £894 | 0% | |
| Sweden | 5,660 | 1.2% | £13,921 | 1% | Romania | 170 | 0.0% | £917 | 0% | |
| Belgium | 5,430 | 1.1% | £15,431 | 1% | Iceland | 110 | 0.0% | £410 | 0% | |
| Austria | 5,390 | 1.1% | £11,312 | 1% | Republic of Estonia | 90 | 0.0% | £348 | 0% | |
| Norway | 4,250 | 0.9% | £10,557 | 1% | Liechtenstein | 50 | 0.0% | £87 | 0% | |
| Denmark | 3,400 | 0.7% | £8,944 | 0% | ||||||
| TOTALS: | 490,420 | 100.0% | £1,919,863 | 100% | ||||||
| Source: DWP – May 2016 | DWP , Data and Analytics, Technology – Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (Number of Claimants) | |||||||||
| DWP , Data and Analytics, Technology – Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (Average Weekly amount of Benefit (£)) | ||||||||||
“British expat pensioners spend good money in warmer countries such as Spain and this is something the EU will want to continue. So the generosity of reciprocal state pension deals for them are yet another negotiating card that will come into play.”
– Adrian Boulding – tisa policy strategy director
Don’t leave British Pensioners in Europe out in the cold – the case for a new approach to state pension rights overseas
ICBP Pamphlet – 2017
23-Jun-17: The Guardian: EU expats condemn Theresa May’s ‘pathetic’ offer on Brexit rights
22-Mar-17: Eurocitizen2020blogspot.ca: UK Nationals Will Lose All Citizenship Rights on Britain’s Departure From The EU
21-Mar-17: House of Lords: Hansard: Debate on Brexit: Gibraltar
21-Mar-17: Euroweekly News: The Gibraltar delegation meet with Dr. Fox
17-Mar-17:Parliament: State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad: Written question
17-Mar-17: Euroweekly News: Pensioner campaigners protest Britain’s position on Brexit
16-Mar-17: Financial Times: Spain’s UK expats face Brexit Citizenship Dilemma
7-Mar-17: The Times: Experts at the centre of a tangled web
5-Mar-17: Daily Star Online: Spain – Impact Post Brexit
2-Mar-17: Euroweekly News: Foreign Office visitors met with invited guests for Brexit discussion
28-Feb-17: The Independent – Letter to the editor: Pension Justice
25-Feb-17: Euroweekly News – Foreign Office discusses Brexit with invited guests
25-Feb-17: Olive Press: British expats are ‘out of sight, out of mind’ to UK MPs – Brexpats In Spain campaigner
23-Feb-17: The Telegraph: Brexit -What does leaving the EU mean for expats
22-Feb-17: University of Cambridge: Database protecting UK Ex-pats from Brexit ‘misinformation’ to be built by Cambridge Researchers
22-Feb-17: The Independent: British Pensioners living in EU ‘face healthcare limbo after Brexit’
21-Feb-17: House of Lords: European Union Committee – Brexit-Gibraltar – full report
21-Feb-17: Euroweekly News: Helping the British Overseas
17-Feb-17: The Courier (Spain): Brits Living in Spain will not be affected by Brexit after UK Exit
16-Feb-17: BBC News: Brexit – All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU
13-Feb-17: The Guardian: Britons living in the EU face Brexit backlash, leaked paper warns
4-Feb-17: Daily Express: Merkel cancels talks on securing rights for UK Expats
2-Feb-17: Olive Press: British Expat Group Publishes White Paper on Government Brexit negotiations
2-Feb-17: The Guardian: Alternative White Paper by Britons in EU
19-Jan-17: Pensions Today: Frozen Pensions – ICBP’s Campaign
19-Jan-17: Costa News: Frozen Pensions Fear – Part1 and Part 2
17-Jan-17: Lisbon Treaty.org: Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
17-Jan-17: BBC News: Brexit – UK to leave single market says Theresa May
12-Jan-17: The Olive Press: Brexit: What it may mean to your State Pension
4-Jan-17: ABC News (Australia): Jim Tilley hopes Brexit could see his frozen pensions increase in value.
1-Jan-17: House of Lords – European Union Committee: Brexit – Acquired Rights
3-Nov-16: Daily Telegraph: Brexit could be delayed by up to a year following High Court ruling
13-Oct-16 Euroweeklynews: Last ditch court battle over how Brexit unfolds
10-Oct-16 UK Parliament: Petition for pension increases
29-Sep-16 Euroweeklynews.com: Pensioner Rights and fights
9-Sep-16 The Telegraph: Brexit minister says it is ‘very improbable’ UK will remain a member of the single market
4-Sep-16 The Telegraph: G20: Theresa May in talks over a free trade deal with Australia after Brexit
23-Aug-16 AOL Money: EU expats face pension freeze
17-Aug-16 The Olive Press: UK pensioners living in the EU should be afraid, very afraid… but help is on its way
16-Aug-16 UK Parliamentary Briefing: Brexit: impact across – policy areas – Edited by Vaughne Mill
10-Aug-16 UK Parliamentary Briefing: Brexit – implication for pensions – Djuna Thurley
2-Aug-16 The Guardian: Falling pound hits British pensioners living overseas
29-Jul-16 Money Marketing: The Brexit effect on ex-pat state pensions
“The Government doing something about this won’t be down to the political power of the expat voter, it will be driven by the Treasury. However, my hunch is that the Government will want to negotiate state pension deals. It builds uprating into its base line, so it doesn’t have to find new money for this. The UK
Government will not want older expats of, say, 75‐plus coming home. With that in mind, I suppose a general deal will be done,”
– Steve Webb (ex-Pensions Minister), Royal Life
25-Jul-16 The Olive Press: Expat pensioners lose thousands of euros in pensions because of Brexit
27-Jun-16 The BBC: Brexit: What does it mean for expats, here and in the EU?
24-Jun-16 Daily Express: Brexit: What will happen to pensions when Britain leaves the EU?
17-May-16 The Telegraph: Expat pensioners in EU ‘will be £50,000 poorer’ as a result of Brexit
4-Mar-16 UK government: The process for withdrawing from the European Union
26-Feb-16 The Independent: 400,000 Britons living on the Continent could have state pensions frozen
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