UK Rejects EU Offer to Facilitate Study and Work Abroad for Young People Offer

(CTN News) – Following Brexit, the UK has rejected an EU offer to make it simpler for Brits aged 18 to 30 to study and work overseas.

The European Commission has stated that the settlement would be limited in scope and would not restore free movement.

However, No 10 has rejected the offer, declaring that “free movement within the EU has ended.”

The UK already has systems with certain non-EU countries that allow people to visit the country for up to two years.

It claims it is ready to extend that to particular EU member countries rather than the entire EU.

“We are not introducing an EU-wide youth mobility scheme; free movement within the EU was abolished, and there are no plans to reinstate it,” a government spokesman said Friday evening.

Downing Street preferred country-by-country arrangements over an agreement that applies to all 27 member nations.

Labour has also stated that it has “no plans for a youth mobility scheme” if it wins the general election later this year.

According to a party spokesperson, it has already committed to “no return to the single market, customs union, or free movement” if elected.

It also stated that it hoped to improve the UK’s relationship with the EU by reaching new agreements for recognizing job qualifications, selling food and agricultural products, and touring entertainers.

The EU’s free movement regulations were a prominent issue in the 2016 Brexit vote, with the Leave campaign promising to exit them in order to give the UK more control over immigration policy.

The proposed EU plan would not perfectly match the regime because freedoms would be limited in time, and UK participants would be restricted to the EU members who accepted them.

However, it would dramatically loosen immigration rules on young people traveling between the UK and the EU, with the commission proposing no quotas on overall numbers.

In a policy statement, the European Commission stated that it stepped in after the UK approached several unnamed EU members last year to discuss individual arrangements.

It stated that this risks “differential treatment” of EU citizens and that instead, a bloc-wide agreement should be reached to ensure they are “treated equally”.

Instead, the commission intends to create a new international agreement attached to the post-Brexit trade pact with the United Kingdom, which will take effect in 2021.

Brexit Impact: UK’s Stance on EU Youth Mobility

It would be the bloc’s first mobility agreement with a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), except Switzerland.

Any decision to launch discussions with the UK would ultimately be up to EU states, who would also need to agree on the parameters of the negotiations. A date for them to discuss the proposal has yet to be determined.

The UK offers a youth mobility plan visa, allowing individuals from 10 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, to study or work in the country for up to two years. However, it does not accept EU candidates.

The European Commission proposes a more comprehensive EU-UK agreement that would last up to four years and include no constraints on time spent working, learning training, or volunteering.

It further states that EU applicants should not be required to pay the yearly UK NHS levy, which ranges from £776 for students and under-18s to £1,035 for workers.

According to the ideas, EU students should pay the same tuition prices as UK students, rather than the increased fees they have had to pay since Brexit, and will be able to rejoin with family members.

The Home Office said in a statement that its existing youth mobility schemes had been “successful” and that it was “open to agreeing them with our international partners, including EU member states.”

The government said in a statement, “Our agreements provide a valuable route for cultural exchanges, provided partner countries are also willing to offer the same opportunities for young British people.”

Immigration from the EU to the UK has decreased since freedom of movement regulations expired in 2021, requiring EU residents to obtain a visa to live in the UK, study, or work.

The commission’s proposed accord is likely to influence official immigration data, as immigrants who have lived in the UK for more than a year will appear in official statistics.

After Brexit, the UK declined an offer to continue participating in the EU’s Erasmus student exchange initiative and instead implemented the Turing initiative.