Within weeks the British Government is expected to receive new proposals to enable young people to travel between the United Kingdom and the European Union, according to The Guardian.
The new proposals are seen as a key first test of the “reset” of London’s relationship with Brussels. A first draft of a new version of Ursula von der Leyen’s April proposal has already been discussed by member states and will go to a working group in Brussels next week.
Possible changes could include the abolition of four-year student exchange programmes, where students pay tuition fees at the university they attend. British universities, for their part, made it clear that this is unacceptable as their strained finances cannot cope with the loss of income. British students pay around £9,000 a year in tuition fees, but international students can pay from £16,000 in Scotland to £59,000 at Oxford University.
The Conservative government rejected similar proposals in April. EU officials are hoping the new Labour administration will return to the issue. They warn that another rejection could jeopardise that government’s desire to sign new defence and farming deals.
European diplomats, however, face several problems. Firstly, they are alarmed that Starmer has yet to change the British government’s position on the youth mobility scheme. Others note that the UK has yet to make any proposals to Brussels on what it might want in any security or agriculture pact.
For his part, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised a much closer trade relationship with the EU and has prioritised a defence and security pact, which officials say can be agreed quickly, and an agreement on agricultural products, which is likely to take longer.
Some countries believe that reducing the proposed duration of youth visas from four to two years, in line with other schemes the EU is running with Canada and Australia, could resolve the impasse.
