EU-UK youth mobility scheme: a glimmer of hope for the next generation

, by Tiffany Williams

EU-UK youth mobility scheme: a glimmer of hope for the next generation
17/01/2025. Warsaw, Poland. Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk for a bilateral meeting at the Chancellery in Warsaw. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Ahead of an upcoming UK-EU summit on 19 May, the British government has confirmed interest in collaborating with the European Union on a joint youth mobility scheme.

Details on if and how this scheme would work are still to be confirmed, however, previous discussions have suggested that it would allow British and EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 (potentially up to 35) to move, study or work freely between the UK and EU for a limited time period. If the idea becomes reality, it will be a valuable opportunity for young people in the UK and Europe to develop their careers, education and cultural experience. It will also be a step towards a closer relationship between the two parties after Brexit, and a sign that this is not as politically unfeasible as it may seem.

A surprising turn from Starmer’s government

The British government’s declaration of interest in a mobility scheme has come as a surprise for several reasons. As recently as February, they denied that there were any plans for such a scheme. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party did not, of course, engineer Brexit, but they have historically been painfully reticent to make any moves that could be interpreted as against its spirit and intentions. A major reason for this is that their traditional voter base, working-class post-industrial communities, voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in 2016.

The feelings that inspired these votes still endure. As in much of the rest of the world right now, increasingly poverty and deprivation in Britain has created fertile ground for the far-right to rise, and even five years after Brexit, the far-right, Eurosceptic Reform UK party are Labour’s strongest political rivals. Reform saw a surge of support in English local elections on May 2nd, gaining a new Member of Parliament and political control over eight local authorities.

Taking this into account, it is surprising that the British government now appear to have changed their minds. And yet, polling data shows that the general British public are overwhelmingly in favour of a UK-EU youth mobility scheme, even those living in Reform-voting areas. As the future looks uncertain, people are naturally thinking of the younger generation, and the benefits to them are obvious.

Hope for a disappointed generation

In 2016, 73% of British people aged 18-24, and 62% of people aged 25-34 voted to remain in the EU, and it is now evident that Britain leaving the EU has not only limited young people’s careers and education, but caused a range of significant harms to their lives in general, from loss of funding to much-valued services and industries, to the escalation of existing social tensions. Students seeking alternatives to Erasmus have found them to be more limited in what they can offer, bureaucratically cumbersome, and ultimately less open to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, for whom career and educational opportunities are already more limited.

Today’s 18-24 year-olds, who would have been too young to vote in 2016, cannot fail to notice all this. In a January 2025 poll, 77% said they felt Brexit had been more of a failure than a success and 79% supported the prospect of the UK rejoining the EU. A mobility scheme would not, of course, equal the freedom of movement previous generations enjoyed, but it would nonetheless make it far easier for young people to live and work in Europe, and not only gain career and educational experience but invaluable cultural connections that will benefit them for life.

What does the EU gain from this?

The benefits to young British people and to the UK population as a whole are obvious, but what about young EU citizens? The EU is likely to push to make the scheme worthwhile for young citizens, beyond the simple fact of job openings and cultural interests. For example, the EU Commission has previously pushed for the UK to make it more financially viable for EU students to access UK universities, several of which rank among the best in the world, proposing that UK universities charge EU students fees that are equal to those paid by UK nationals. However, as international fees are a major source of income for UK universities, it is likely that the UK will resist this concession.

The UK must also make friends abroad

A youth mobility scheme would be a welcome opportunity for young people in Britain after nearly a decade of disappointments that the vast majority of them did not, or could not, vote for. It would also represent a valuable if small step towards some reconciliation between the UK and the EU, which has previously been treated as politically impossible from a British perspective.

The change being wrought by the Trump administration has made it clear that the old world order is gone, and the UK no longer has leisure to consider who its true allies are. If the UK chooses to go ahead with the youth mobility scheme this week, it will be a source of hope for all who value our relationship with Europe.

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