Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason the Government is issuing European Health Insurance cards with expiry dates later than 31 March 2019; and if he will make a statement.

As the Prime Minister stated on 20 July 2016, as long as we are a member of the European Union we will respect the rights and obligations of EU membership, therefore the current arrangements for European Health Insurance Cards remain in place. Officials in both the Department of Health and the Department for Exiting the European Union are considering the position and options available to us with the aim of achieving the best outcome for the UK health system and for the United Kingdom as a whole.

We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance, including discussions relating to the European Health Insurance Card.