Young people could move more easily between the UK and Europe and stay longer to work, study and train, under plans proposed by the European Union
According to the proposal, presented by European Commission, new rules would be drawn up to allow greater movement between the UK and EU countries for people aged between 18 and 30.
Formal negotiations have not yet begun and a UK source told Sky News that no formal proposal has been put forward by Brussels to begin negotiations.
The proposal will be discussed further by the European Council, which represents all nations, before negotiations begin in earnest.
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The EU’s proposed plans would allow young people to stay in Europe for four-year periods, with the same rules extended to EU citizens coming to Britain.
It would also mean that EU students would pay the same fees as their British counterparts. Since BrexitUK universities charged European students much higher fees.
In announcing the change, the European Commission said it wanted to take an “innovative” approach to tackling the barriers faced by young people looking to travel from the EU to the UK and vice versa for longer periods.
“The aim would be to facilitate youth exchanges, making it easier for young citizens to travel, work and live in the UK, with reciprocity for young UK citizens in a Member State,” the Commission said in a statement.
“The UK’s exit from the European Union has particularly hit young people in the EU and UK who would like to study, work and live abroad,” said Maros Sefcovic, the Commission vice-president who oversees relations with the UK.
“Our goal is to rebuild human bridges between young Europeans on both sides of the English Channel.”
This scheme is separate from the 90-day visa-free trips that UK citizens can enjoy on the continent.
According to the Commission, they do not provide for a regime that would allow UK citizens to travel freely within the Schengen area, but rather the visa would only be valid for a single State.
He added: “This is not about giving young UK citizens the benefits of the fundamental freedom of movement that EU citizens enjoy.”
However, visas would not be “determined” and would allow people to work, travel or study.
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Rather than just being a free exchange, the EU also says it wants people taking part in the scheme to be subject to checks with the bloc or for the UK to be able to reject applications – for example, if someone is considered a threat to public order. , safety or health.
The UK government currently has a series of agreements with 13 individual countries – including New Zealand, South Korea, Andorra, Iceland and India, which provide a similar path forward to what the EU is proposing.
The government has said it is open to the idea of extending these agreements with European countries, but has avoided making a pan-EU deal and there will be those who fear that a deal like this will be the first step towards the UK. being drawn into a “freedom of movement” agreement.
The EU has said it wants a group agreement to “ensure that all Member States are treated equally when it comes to young people’s mobility to the UK” – but the current government appears to prefer its current set of agreements.
The Commission has dismissed these fears, with sources insisting there is no intention to draw the UK into such a deal, or even to offer it.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “We talk about the desire to reduce legal migration and also the desire to support UK talent and skills and that is why we have a system in place whereby we have a series of agreements with individual EU member states where this works is in our interests and we have that rather than an agreement at Commission level.”
Labor has denied it has plans for a youth mobility scheme.
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Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, a trade body representing the UK hospitality sector, welcomed the move.
She said: “Such a deal would be a huge success for hospitality and tourism and would practically solve challenges for the live music and events sectors.”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
