Brussels offers the UK a free movement deal that would give young Britons the right to live in the EU

19 April 2024, 10:58

Brussels last night offered Britain a 'backpackers and baristas' deal on free movement which would allow 18- to 30-year-olds to move to the EU.

The European Commission is proposing a 'youth mobility' scheme that would let 18- to 30-year-olds from anywhere across the EU, for up to four years, move to the UK for work, travel or study.

This means that young Britons will have reciprocal rights to live in the EU.

Under the proposals EU arrivals would pay domestic rates for university tuition fees rather than the higher ones usually charged to foreign students, and would be exempted from paying a healthcare surcharge imposed on other migrants.

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There would be no limit to the number allowed in under the scheme, which could help fill staffing shortages in restaurants or care homes.

The EC insisted that the plan would not reinstate pre-Brexit rights, saying: "It is not about conferring to young UK nationals the benefits of the fundamental freedom of movement enjoyed by EU citizens."

European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said: "The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union has hit young people in the EU and the UK who would like to study, work and live abroad particularly hard.

"Today, we take the first step towards an ambitious but realistic agreement between the EU and the UK that would fix this issue. Our aim is to rebuild human bridges between young Europeans on both sides of the Channel."

Some suspect that the EC proposal is aimed at a future Labour government.

Downing Street suggested the Government would prefer to do deals with individual countries instead of the whole bloc.

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 pathway to what the EU is proposing.

The government has said it is open to the idea of extending those agreements with European countries, but has shied away from doing a pan-EU deal and there will be those who fear that an agreement such as this would be the first step towards the UK being drawn into a "freedom of movement" deal.

The EU said it wants a group deal to "ensure that all member states are treated equally in respect of mobility of young people to the UK" - but the current government seems to prefer its current set of agreements.

The Commission has rejected these fears, with sources insisting there is no intention of either pulling the UK into such a deal, or even offering it.

A Number 10 spokesperson said: "We have spoken about wanting to reduce legal migration and also about wanting to support UK talent and skills and that's why we have a system in place whereby we have a number of agreements with individual EU member states where that works in our interests and we have that rather than a Commission-wide agreement."