After months of negotiations, changes of direction and worry for the European expatriate community in France, the health minister agreed today that legislation which was set to eject thousands of residents from the state healthcare system would not be applied retrospectively to those who are covered by E106 forms (the form issued by the holder's own country to cover healthcare for a limited period when moving to another member state). She confirmed that if they had been living in the country before 23rd November 2007, then they would now be allowed to join the appropriate section of the system (CMU).

The news has brought huge relief to many who had been informed that they would not be permitted to join CMU, once their E106 forms had expired. In December, she had already agreed that current CMU subscribers would be allowed to retain their state healthcare entitlements, and today added this latest group to the list.

New legislation had been brought in late last year, based on EU directive 2004/38EC on the right to move and reside freely in the Union. This states that economically inactive citizens must have: sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system and a comprehensive sickness insurance in order to take up residence in another Member State. The French government is now interpreting this to mean that those in this position can no longer contribute to and benefit from the sickness insurance provided by the state, but must purchase a private policy instead.

A group of concerned expatriates - who had discussed the issue at length on a website forum aimed at Britons in France - decided that they needed to act, and founded the lobby group, French Health Issues.

Deborah Dudley, one of the group's founders said that although the legislation is still in place for newcomers to France, we have now taken a further step in establishing that it cannot be applied retrospectively to E106 holders, and that comes as a huge relief to many more people who had already established their legal right to live here and who faced having that right taken away, leaving them in an untenable position.

We remain concerned that the latest concession appears to apply specifically to E106 holders, resident in France on or before 23rd November 2007. There were other UK citizens resident in France at that date, for example, those covered by forms E109, or forms E121 issued on the basis of disability allowance. We are taking steps to confirm that they too will be permitted to join the French health system CMU should their present cover cease.

This has been a hard-fought battle but we cannot believe we have come so far in so few months. Back in September, many of us believed we would have to go back to the UK if the legislation remained unaltered, as we either could not afford, or were too ill, to get the required insurance cover, even if such a thing existed.

We have followed some very moving cases of people who were in the middle of life-saving treatment, or who are dependent upon medication for their very lives - such as diabetics, those with heart problems etc who faced the bleakest of futures. They have lived with uncertainty for many months now and for their sakes alone, we are delighted by today's news. We thank the French health minister for her understanding in making these changes, and the Europe minister and Embassy staff for continuing to push for this outcome, on our behalf.

We remain convinced that there is a strong legal case to be made for those who come to live here in the future, to be allowed to join the state system, so we will not be stopping here. But we are delighted by what has been achieved on our behalf today.

Many of those early retired European citizens, who live here in France, will tonight get the best sleep they have for many months.

For a copy of the health minister and British embassy statements, and for further information on the issues yet to be resolved, see www.frenchhealthissues.eu

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