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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Reality Check: Your questions answered | Reality Check: Your questions answered |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| It is more than four months since the UK voted to leave the European Union. For Radio 4's PM, the BBC's Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly and assistant political editor Norman Smith, are working with the BBC's Reality Check team to answer your questions about what Brexit means. Three new answers are being added each day. | |
| How will access to healthcare change for expats living in the EU, asks Veronique Bradley, who lives in Italy. | How will access to healthcare change for expats living in the EU, asks Veronique Bradley, who lives in Italy. |
| Kevin Connolly says: | Kevin Connolly says: |
| Healthcare is one of those issues that remains relatively simple as long as the UK remains in the EU. | Healthcare is one of those issues that remains relatively simple as long as the UK remains in the EU. |
| It is just part of a range of citizens' rights that apply across the entire union. After Brexit, I suppose there will be two possibilities. | It is just part of a range of citizens' rights that apply across the entire union. After Brexit, I suppose there will be two possibilities. |
| The first and easiest would be that the negotiators come up with a reciprocal deal that keeps the current arrangements, or something a bit like them, in place. | The first and easiest would be that the negotiators come up with a reciprocal deal that keeps the current arrangements, or something a bit like them, in place. |
| If they don't, the situation will depend on the individual country where you live. | If they don't, the situation will depend on the individual country where you live. |
| For the Bradleys in Italy, for example, residents from non-EU countries, and that will soon include the Brits, will have to finalise their resident status, acquire an Italian identity card and then apply for an Italian health insurance card. | For the Bradleys in Italy, for example, residents from non-EU countries, and that will soon include the Brits, will have to finalise their resident status, acquire an Italian identity card and then apply for an Italian health insurance card. |
| Access to the NHS for non-resident Brits is not straightforward unless you have a European health insurance card. | Access to the NHS for non-resident Brits is not straightforward unless you have a European health insurance card. |
| The right to treatment is based on residency, not on your tax status. | The right to treatment is based on residency, not on your tax status. |
| So, even if you live abroad and pay some British tax on a buy-to-let property for instance, you might find yourself getting a bill for any NHS treatment you end up getting while you are back in the UK. | So, even if you live abroad and pay some British tax on a buy-to-let property for instance, you might find yourself getting a bill for any NHS treatment you end up getting while you are back in the UK. |
| What will happen to EU nationals who lived and worked in the UK and now receive a British state pension, asks Peter Barz, a German citizen living in the UK. | What will happen to EU nationals who lived and worked in the UK and now receive a British state pension, asks Peter Barz, a German citizen living in the UK. |
| Norman Smith says: | Norman Smith says: |
| If you are an EU national and you get a British state pension, nothing much should change, because the state pension is dependent not on where you come from, but on how long you have paid National Insurance contributions in the UK. | If you are an EU national and you get a British state pension, nothing much should change, because the state pension is dependent not on where you come from, but on how long you have paid National Insurance contributions in the UK. |
| So it doesn't matter whether you come from Lithuania or Latvia or Transylvania or Timbuktu, what counts is how much you have paid in terms of National Insurance contributions. | So it doesn't matter whether you come from Lithuania or Latvia or Transylvania or Timbuktu, what counts is how much you have paid in terms of National Insurance contributions. |
| There is one wrinkle though and that is that you have to have paid in for at least 10 years. | There is one wrinkle though and that is that you have to have paid in for at least 10 years. |
| Under the current rules, if you are an EU citizen and haven't paid in for 10 years, you can point to any contributions you have made in your native country and say, "I paid in there", and that will count. | Under the current rules, if you are an EU citizen and haven't paid in for 10 years, you can point to any contributions you have made in your native country and say, "I paid in there", and that will count. |
| That works for EU countries and another 16 countries with which the UK has social security agreements. | That works for EU countries and another 16 countries with which the UK has social security agreements. |
| Once we have left the EU, you will no longer be able to do that unless we negotiate new reciprocal agreements. | Once we have left the EU, you will no longer be able to do that unless we negotiate new reciprocal agreements. |
| If we don't then potentially, if you have paid in fewer than than 10 years' worth of National Insurance contributions, you will not get a British state pension. | If we don't then potentially, if you have paid in fewer than than 10 years' worth of National Insurance contributions, you will not get a British state pension. |
| Is it possible to be both an EU citizen and not an EU citizen, asks Declan O'Neill, who holds an Irish passport. | Is it possible to be both an EU citizen and not an EU citizen, asks Declan O'Neill, who holds an Irish passport. |
| Kevin Connolly says: | Kevin Connolly says: |
| I should probably declare some sort of interest here as a dual Irish and British national myself. | I should probably declare some sort of interest here as a dual Irish and British national myself. |
| Of course, anyone born in Northern Ireland has an absolute right to carry both passports. | Of course, anyone born in Northern Ireland has an absolute right to carry both passports. |
| Declan might be happy to know that this is one of the few questions where I can't see a downside as long as you are happy and comfortable carrying both passports. | Declan might be happy to know that this is one of the few questions where I can't see a downside as long as you are happy and comfortable carrying both passports. |
| The Irish document means you continue to enjoy the benefits of EU citizenship, and the British passport will give you full rights in the UK at the same time. | The Irish document means you continue to enjoy the benefits of EU citizenship, and the British passport will give you full rights in the UK at the same time. |
| Call it one of the clear joys of coming from Northern Ireland, alongside the rolling hills, rugged coastline and enjoyable breaks between the showers. | Call it one of the clear joys of coming from Northern Ireland, alongside the rolling hills, rugged coastline and enjoyable breaks between the showers. |
| All you have to do is remember to carry the Irish passport when you are joining the EU citizens-only queue at the airport in future. | All you have to do is remember to carry the Irish passport when you are joining the EU citizens-only queue at the airport in future. |
| When will we stop sending the EU our subscription fee, asks Colin Spikesley. | When will we stop sending the EU our subscription fee, asks Colin Spikesley. |
| Norman Smith says: | Norman Smith says: |
| The honest answer is we probably won't stop sending money to the EU anytime soon. | The honest answer is we probably won't stop sending money to the EU anytime soon. |
| Why? Well, because we are going to be a member of the EU until at least 2019, so at least until the spring of 2019 we are going to be paying our annual subs of around £9bn a year. | Why? Well, because we are going to be a member of the EU until at least 2019, so at least until the spring of 2019 we are going to be paying our annual subs of around £9bn a year. |
| But even after we have left we may still be tied in to certain arrangements we signed up to, for example, to fund research or economic development projects in the EU, and just like with any other contract, once you have signed on the dotted line you have to fulfil it. | But even after we have left we may still be tied in to certain arrangements we signed up to, for example, to fund research or economic development projects in the EU, and just like with any other contract, once you have signed on the dotted line you have to fulfil it. |
| So we could still be paying money into the EU for those sorts of projects and there is the possibility that, should we choose, we could decide to keep paying money into the EU to ensure continued access to the single market. | So we could still be paying money into the EU for those sorts of projects and there is the possibility that, should we choose, we could decide to keep paying money into the EU to ensure continued access to the single market. |
| In other words, the idea has been mooted in Whitehall that maybe we ought to slip the EU a few billion quid to allow us to continue to trade freely with the single market. | In other words, the idea has been mooted in Whitehall that maybe we ought to slip the EU a few billion quid to allow us to continue to trade freely with the single market. |
| So in short, the idea we are going to stop handing money over to the EU anytime soon is probably a bit wide of the mark. | So in short, the idea we are going to stop handing money over to the EU anytime soon is probably a bit wide of the mark. |
| What will happen to expats living in the EU but receiving their pensions, asks Dr Denise Burman, who has been living in France for 20 years. | What will happen to expats living in the EU but receiving their pensions, asks Dr Denise Burman, who has been living in France for 20 years. |
| Kevin Connolly says: | Kevin Connolly says: |
| I think lots of the concerns that people are raising are about the fate of British people who have settled elsewhere in the European Union during British membership. | I think lots of the concerns that people are raising are about the fate of British people who have settled elsewhere in the European Union during British membership. |
| There are about a million of them and, of course, for people who retired to France or Italy or Spain or Germany, in theory that means state pensions. | There are about a million of them and, of course, for people who retired to France or Italy or Spain or Germany, in theory that means state pensions. |
| At the moment, Brits living anywhere in the European Economic Area, which is the EU plus a few others, get pension increases in line with inflation, and there are a few other countries where Britain has reciprocal arrangements so the same sort of deal applies. | At the moment, Brits living anywhere in the European Economic Area, which is the EU plus a few others, get pension increases in line with inflation, and there are a few other countries where Britain has reciprocal arrangements so the same sort of deal applies. |
| If you retire to a country where Britain hasn't negotiated such a deal, including a few surprising ones such as Australia, then your pension is frozen either at the level you first received it or the level on the day you emigrated. | If you retire to a country where Britain hasn't negotiated such a deal, including a few surprising ones such as Australia, then your pension is frozen either at the level you first received it or the level on the day you emigrated. |
| Now, here is where it gets confusing and a bit more hopeful for our questioner: the UK does have bilateral deals with some countries that are in the EU, including France. | Now, here is where it gets confusing and a bit more hopeful for our questioner: the UK does have bilateral deals with some countries that are in the EU, including France. |
| So after Brexit you should still get your pension increases there. But in EU countries where there is no bilateral deal it is possible you might see pensions frozen, unless of course in the long years of negotiations to come, the rights of expat pensioners are protected. | So after Brexit you should still get your pension increases there. But in EU countries where there is no bilateral deal it is possible you might see pensions frozen, unless of course in the long years of negotiations to come, the rights of expat pensioners are protected. |
| Is there a get-out clause for Article 50, asks Gillian Coates. | Is there a get-out clause for Article 50, asks Gillian Coates. |
| Norman Smith says: | Norman Smith says: |
| I think the honest answer is you would have to be a legal eagle to answer this. | I think the honest answer is you would have to be a legal eagle to answer this. |
| But my take on it is that legally it looks like once we trigger Article 50 we are locked in, and that is certainly how the European Parliament reads it. | But my take on it is that legally it looks like once we trigger Article 50 we are locked in, and that is certainly how the European Parliament reads it. |
| And there is a view that if we were in this two-year process after triggering Article 50 and we wanted to get out of it, then ultimately that would be a decision for the European Court of Justice. | And there is a view that if we were in this two-year process after triggering Article 50 and we wanted to get out of it, then ultimately that would be a decision for the European Court of Justice. |
| However, in the real world I think it is likely to be rather different, whatever the legal protocol. | However, in the real world I think it is likely to be rather different, whatever the legal protocol. |
| I think the truth is, if we were trundling along and decided it was all going to be catastrophic and we have got to pull up the handbrake pretty sharpish, a lot of other EU countries would be probably be laughing at us, but I think at the same time they would probably be quite pleased we weren't going. | I think the truth is, if we were trundling along and decided it was all going to be catastrophic and we have got to pull up the handbrake pretty sharpish, a lot of other EU countries would be probably be laughing at us, but I think at the same time they would probably be quite pleased we weren't going. |
| Certainly, if you listened to the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, earlier this month, he was saying yes, the UK could change its mind and he would be delighted if we did. | Certainly, if you listened to the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, earlier this month, he was saying yes, the UK could change its mind and he would be delighted if we did. |
| So I think the short answer is: legally, it doesn't look so good if you want to get out of it, but politically, it probably can be done. | So I think the short answer is: legally, it doesn't look so good if you want to get out of it, but politically, it probably can be done. |
| Kevin Connolly and Norman Smith will continue to answer your Brexit questions on BBC Radio 4's PM programme every day this week from 1700 GMT. | Kevin Connolly and Norman Smith will continue to answer your Brexit questions on BBC Radio 4's PM programme every day this week from 1700 GMT. |