The UK and the European Union are deeply split over the terms of a youth mobility scheme that is a key part of a post-Brexit “reset” agreement, fresh negotiating documents show.
With only two weeks to go until a crucial London summit kicking off formal negotiations, the pair remain far apart on a deal to allow 18-30-year-olds on both sides of the Channel to travel and work more freely in each other’s countries.
The EU is demanding a “dedicated visa” to enable young people to work, study or “simply travel” in the UK as long as they have sufficient funds, according to a draft document discussed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday.
It also proposes that EU students should return to paying the same £9,535 fees to attend British universities as home students.
A UK “counterproposal” suggests the two sides “explore” a much narrower scheme that is “time-limited [and] capped” and would mean visitors had “no right to bring dependants or access benefits”, the document adds.
The UK government has repeatedly rejected Brussels’ version of a youth mobility deal arguing that it is too close to restoring the “free movement of people” that was ended by the 2016 Brexit vote.
Instead, the UK said it would push for a deal to improve the rights for musicians and other touring artists. The proposed text says only that the European Commission proposes to “provide clear information to artists” on rules they need to comply with.
Brussels also wants the UK to work towards rejoining the “Erasmus+” student exchange programme, the document states — though European relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds this week told the FT this week there were no plans to rejoin.
At their summit on May 19 at Lancaster House, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen will announce a new Security and Defence Partnership, alongside a plan for a new EU-UK “common understanding”.
The documents set out plans to deepen co-operation in areas including energy, emissions trading, co-operation on crime fighting and tackling illegal migration, along with removing barriers to trade in food and animal products.
The UK has asked for “more flexibility” than EU countries to impose controls on food and plant imports. But the document states that the UK must accept so-called “dynamic alignment” that would result in it automatically following EU rules, and requests an “adequate financial contribution” to pay for the EU’s work in that area.
In a win for London, it adds that any food agreement will be governed by an “independent arbitration panel”, which avoids the European Court of Justice having direct jurisdiction over the UK.
London officials would be involved in early stage drafting of new laws covered by dynamic alignment, in a sign that any veterinary deal following EU rules will inevitably pull the two sides closer together.
The UK would also be required to make “adequate financial contribution” to any European emissions trading system if the pair chose to link their separate programmes, the document states.
Beyond the disagreements on trade and mobility, the two sides will also agree on an expansive Security and Defence Partnership that will create regular meetings, repairing what one UK diplomat called the “institutional rupture” caused by Brexit.
According to the draft text the UK and EU will establish a six-monthly “foreign policy dialogue” between the British foreign secretary and the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs.
The EU will also “regularly” invite the UK to high-level meetings, including the quarterly meetings of the European Council of EU leaders, alongside an annual defence dialogue, training exchanges and possible staff secondments.
A UK government spokesperson said any final deal would be in “the national interest”, adding: “These are EU internal draft texts. No final agreement has been made.”
