Last week, the European Commission made a proposal to start negotiations on a youth mobility agreement between the EU and the UK. Unfortunately, the reception of this has been mixed amongst key political parties.
Prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), UK and EU nationals enjoyed free moment between the regions, with the right to reside in any of the EU Member States.
Unsurprisingly, and according to the European Commission, there has been a decrease in mobility between the EU and the UK since Brexit, with the movement of people now being controlled by the domestic immigration rules of each country. The Commission has noted that this has particularly affected young people and their opportunities to study, work, and experience life in other countries.
What was the proposal?
To address this, the European Commission proposed on 18 April 2024 to start negotiations with the UK in reaching an agreement for youth mobility, to make it easier for young EU citizens to live, study and work in the UK, and vice-versa for young UK citizens in the EU.
The Commission’s proposal set out the conditions which would need to be met in order for young people to enjoy the youth mobility arrangements – including their age, the maximum amount of time they can stay in the country, other eligibility requirements, and certain rules ensuring that young people comply. The agreement expected to allow those between 18-30 years old to stay in the UK or EU for up to four years and have the ability to undertake a variety of activities such as studying, training, working, and travelling in the country. It was also envisaged that there would be no restrictions on the number of young people who could have benefited from the arrangement.
The Commission said that the agreement would aim to address the most significant practical barriers for students and trainees. For example, it would aim for EU citizens to be able to undertake traineeships in the UK and provide for equal higher education tuition fees between EU and UK citizens.
The youth mobility agreement could also have been beneficial for the UK in addressing some of the labour shortages the UK is currently facing, such as in the hospitality sector.
It is worth noting that the proposed agreement would not have allowed mobility for UK citizens among multiple EU Member States, and it would only be valid in the country which the UK citizen applied for. Travelling for up to 90 days within the rest of the EU would also have been subject to the usual conditions and restrictions.
How has the proposal been received?
As the UK currently has its own youth mobility scheme with 13 countries, it was hoped this proposal could result in an extension of this within EU countries.
However, in a somewhat anticipated move, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declined the European Commission’s proposal on 19 April 2024. Labour have also confirmed that they have “no plans for a youth mobility scheme” if the party were to take office following the 2024 general election.
Therefore, there remains little hope for a wider UK-EU youth mobility scheme in the foreseeable future. It is thought instead that the UK will continue to reach out to individual EU Member States in order to reach youth mobility agreements with certain selected countries.
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