Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether UK citizens would retain the automatic right to hold the European Health Insurance Card during the period prior to the completion of Article 50 negotiations relating to the Lisbon Treaty in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.

Alistair Burt

The procedure governing a country’s departure from the European Union is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. EU law would continue to apply to the departing Member State until the Article 50 agreement had entered into force, or for two years if no agreement had been reached and no extension to the two year period had been granted. A request for an extension could only be granted with the unanimous agreement of the remaining Member States. The Government’s position is that the United Kingdom will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.