- Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay pledges to increase state pensions of UK nationals living in the EU in the event of No Deal…but only if the EU reciprocates (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
- If the EU as a bloc doesn’t reciprocate, UK will need to strike individual deals with each of the 27 member states
- If a deal isn’t reached – either with the EU as a whole or individual member states – valuable state pension ‘triple-lock’ increases could be lost
- Around 470,000 UK nationals living in the EU risk having their state pensions frozen
Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, comments:
“Today’s statement from the Brexit Secretary lays bare the uncertainty facing almost half a million UK nationals who live in the EU and are currently eligible for valuable state pension increases.
“At the moment these people receive the generous ‘triple-lock’ uprating, meaning their state pension rises in line with the highest of average earnings, inflation or 2.5%.
“While the Government has strongly signalled its desire to continue paying these increases in the event of a No Deal Brexit, this will only happen if the EU reciprocates by uprating the state pensions of EU nationals living in the UK.
“If a deal with the EU as a whole cannot be reached then the UK will likely have to negotiate reciprocal deals with each of the 27 member states. This could be a painfully drawn out process with no guarantee of success.”
*Figure correct as of 2015/16. Source: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk.
