UK downplays youth mobility outcomes of EU-UK reset deal

Despite the fanfare over the United Kingdom’s new post-Brexit reset trade deal with the European Union, announced on Monday, it was more of a step towards reframing the relationship than a full reset, and there are differences of opinion on how much progress had been made towards youth mobility in particular.

Both sides agreed to cooperate further on creating a ‘balanced youth experience scheme’, to use the preferred diplomatic language. But whether this will involve the UK opting to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ mobility programme, as the EU wishes, remains unclear for the time being.

In the build-up to the talks, there had been widespread media speculation that Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer would abandon his earlier opposition to joining an EU-wide youth mobility scheme to make it easier for British young people (assumed to mean anyone under 30, not just students) and their European counterparts to work and study across the continent for a set period of time.

Erasmus+ mobility programme

Observers speculated that the door could also be about to open to young EU citizens, with reciprocal arrangements offered to young British people. This was a key demand by the EU negotiators, who were pushing for the UK to rejoin Erasmus+, which the British pulled out of following the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement.

The British resisted that, at least for the moment, aware that they faced accusations from nationalist politicians and the pro-Brexit media of moving towards free movement of people and were particularly sensitive to the issue after last week’s tough-talking immigration white paper.

The wording used by the two sides differs in statements issued after the signing of the EU-UK reset agreement on 19 May.

The British statement makes no mention of Erasmus+ and says the UK simply agrees to “cooperate further” on youth experience.

Kurt Deketelaere, secretary general of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), told University World News the question of Erasmus+ association is buried for now – as the EU “gave up on its Erasmus demand to get a deal over the line”.

However, the European Commission statement still claims the new “Common Understanding” between the EU and the UK is all about “putting people at the centre of the European Union-United Kingdom relationship” – particularly the younger generation.

The commission’s statement says the EU and UK “should work towards a balanced youth experience scheme on terms to be mutually agreed” to facilitate “various activities, such as work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering, or simply travelling, for a limited period of time”.

The statement continues: “It should provide a dedicated visa path and ensure that the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides.

“Furthermore, the United Kingdom and the European Commission should work towards the association of the United Kingdom to the European Union Erasmus+ programme.

“The specific terms of this association, including mutually agreed financial terms, should be determined as part of that process in order to ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the United Kingdom.”

The UK government’s statement on the outcome of the reset talks has a single paragraph devoted to youth mobility and is far less explicit.

It simply states: “The UK and the EU have also agreed to co-operate further on a youth experience scheme – which could see young people able to work and travel freely in Europe again. The scheme, which would be capped and time-limited, would mirror existing schemes the UK has with countries such as Australia and New Zealand.”

In addition to Australia and New Zealand, Britain already has a youth mobility programme with Canada, South Korea and a number of non-EU countries, including Iceland, Monaco and San Marino (as well as Uruguay) that enables young people to live and work in the UK for up to two years.

Agreed principle

The fudge is not a complete surprise, with Anne Corbett, a senior associate at LSE Consulting with a long research interest in UK and European higher education policies, telling University World News that despite the lack of a commitment to rejoin Erasmus+ on the British side, she still felt positive about the reset in UK relations with the EU and what she took as the “commitment” to a youth experience scheme.

“After almost 10 years of acerbic UK-EU relations in which young people’s interests have been ignored, the UK and EU leaders have agreed that it is in the mutual interest to deepen our people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation,” she noted.

Corbett said: “This was a moment when getting an agreed principle was the priority. It’s now up to the interest groups to see that the ‘swift’ progress promised is upheld.

“They might also challenge the UK government spin that, disappointingly, made no reference to Erasmus.”

Emmanuelle Gardan, director of the Brussels-based Coimbra Group (which represents 39 leading institutions from across the continent, including the universities of Bristol, Durham and Edinburgh in the UK), said she was delighted that the EU statement still referred to the Erasmus+ association.

She told University World News that was “a remarkable accomplishment”, adding: “It means that the political discussions in this field have gone much further than expected – even a couple of days ago.”

Political climate

Gardan, however, added that she understood the British government’s caution, saying they have to be “in tune with the political climate in the country” and that the UK clearly has other priorities at the moment.

That could be an acknowledgement that the UK government had just unveiled the immigration white paper, which aims to reduce immigration to the UK, including a crackdown on international students using the study visa as a backdoor route to claiming asylum in Britain, as University World News has reported.

In a statement issued on the first post-Brexit EU-UK Summit on 19 May, the Coimbra Group urged both sides “to strike the right balance between ambition and realism”.

Ludovic Thilly, chair of the Coimbra Group Executive Board, said: “Even without re-establishing fully-fledged free movement for our students, a youth opportunity scheme could nevertheless address partially some of the concerns that universities have been raising since the withdrawal of the UK from the EU in 2020 and the progressive end of the participation of UK universities in the Erasmus+ programme.”

Martina Tesseri, a policy and advocacy officer at the Coimbra Group, added that the European side understands that “the political climate in the UK understandably imposes caution on the government”.

She told University World News: “Moreover, the Common Understanding merely sets the tone for future negotiations.

“It is, of course, significant and very encouraging for us, but nothing has been agreed concretely [on youth mobility].

“I'm imagining that the UK government is trying to attract as little attention as possible to it right now, which politically speaking is a safe strategy for them at the moment.

Maddalaine Ansell, director of education at the British Council, said that the UK government agreeing to collaborate with the EU on a youth experience scheme was “very welcome news”.

She noted: “This could provide greater opportunities for UK-based students to gain European experiences while giving more EU students the chance to learn at our world-leading higher education institutions and gain valuable professional experience through internships and work placements, contributing significantly to the UK economy and enriching the UK’s education sector.

“The UK needs a globally skilled workforce to negotiate, connect and engage internationally. Student mobility is crucial to achieving this.”

In a blog from the UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) published on 18 May, its director Nick Hillman spelt out some of the challenges ahead for restoring student mobility between the EU and UK, including what level of tuition fee to charge EU students studying at British universities and the cost implications of Britain rejoining Erasmus+.

He said any scheme that once again treats EU students as home students in terms of the tuition fees they pay would be tricky to implement because universities lose money on their home students and rely on international student fees to subsidise domestic places.

He noted: “Trade arrangements are reciprocal, so it is important to ask what is in this wider deal for the UK’s cash-strapped universities as well as what UK students will get in return for EU students having cheaper access to UK universities.”

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com.