The European Commission has proposed a post-Brexit mobility scheme with the UK that could make it easier for young people to study abroad, but the Westminster government has signalled that it is reluctant to play ball.
In a recommendation for a European Council decision, the commission advises opening negotiations with the UK on an “agreement to facilitate youth mobility”, which would restore some of the exchange lost after Brexit. The envisaged agreement would apply to UK and European Union citizens aged between 18 and 30, allowing them to stay in the countries of their choice for up to four years. Mobility would not be “purpose-bound”, meaning a young person need not study or work in their destination country, for instance, in order to stay.
The commission stipulates that young people should receive “equal treatment” regarding tuition fees, noting that EU citizens currently studying in the UK are subject to “very high” international student fees. Should the proposal become reality, EU citizens would pay the equivalent of domestic tuition fees, which are capped at £9,250 a year in England for undergraduate degrees.
At present, EU students and doctoral researchers have “more difficult access or no access” to benefits such as student loans or scholarships, the commission says. “The result is a decline in the number of union students in the United Kingdom.”
