This agreement applies provisionally from 1 January 2021 until the completion of the ratification procedure in 2021. On 26 February this year, the decision of the Partnership Council, the UK's joint governing body for the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (Decision 1/2021), decided to extend the provisional application of the Agreement until 30 April.

The provisions of the Protocol apply to people who are, or have been, subject to the social security legislation of at least one EU country, including stateless persons and refugees and their survivors who came or will come to the UK after 1 January 2021.

The extension of the provisional application will allow to complete the internal procedures required for the definitive conclusion of the agreement. The EU still must obtain the consent of the European Parliament to provide a certified translation of the agreement in all the official languages used within the European Union.

Provisional application avoids a legal gap between the end of the transition period with the UK and the final conclusion of the new agreement.