EU-UK youth mobility scheme may be delayed to secure summit success

Diplomats are considering deferring the deadline for an EU-UK youth mobility scheme by six months in order to ensure the success of the upcoming summit on 20 November. The move aims to allow Andy Burnham to present a successful “reset” in relations, as fears grow that the summit could fail over unresolved issues, particularly tuition fees for EU students. At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, it emerged that the UK still insists on international tuition fees, quotas, and an NHS surcharge for EU students. The UK is pushing for a cap of about 50,000 a year on EU citizens under the proposed youth experience scheme (YES) visas, while some member states want a cap between 100,000 and 500,000, and others want no cap at all. The UK also insists that YES visa holders pay a £1,035 NHS surcharge, though a 25% discount has been suggested.

Divisions over tuition fees and caps

Tuition fees remain the thorniest problem, with UK universities pressuring the Labour government to maintain full international student fees for EU citizens. International fees can run to £69,190 a year at Oxford. There is an “emerging consensus” around a European Commission proposal to take tuition fees out of the package, according to one diplomat, with wording in the 20 November joint statement that would commit both sides to negotiating a solution by May 2027. The landing zone is thought to be between home fees of £9,790 and average international fees, but universities outside the elite Russell Group have told the UK government they cannot afford to drop fees for EU citizens.

Several diplomats said the bloc is still divided on whether to remove tuition fees from the table. France argues for an “all or nothing” approach, questioning why the UK would agree to tuition fees in six months if it cannot do so now, 17 months since the last EU-UK summit. Others argue that the three issues are “significant but modest” and that failure on 20 November cannot be risked, as both sides need to move on to bigger issues of economic, security and defence ties.

Progress on other fronts

Negotiations on a food and drink trade deal and an emissions trading system are almost complete. There is near-agreement on a National Farmers’ Union demand that crops grown using fungicides not yet approved in the EU could be sold in the bloc under a transition arrangement in a sanitary and phyto-sanitary agreement. Talks on UK reintegration into the EU energy market will continue after 20 November, with more time needed on state aid and oversight frameworks, including the role of the European Court of Justice.

One diplomat said: “A lot of member states were in favour of keeping the trio of issues together and not breaking the agenda up, but there are others that think it is acceptable to decouple them and there is no agreement yet on which approach to take.” Another diplomat noted: “YES is politically, emotionally and diplomatically very important. But if we can get an agreement at the summit by removing one element from the agenda it is a price worth paying.”