Britain and EU set for youth mobility deal and Erasmus+ return in 2027, but student fee talks will take longer
Britain and the European Union are set to agree a youth experience scheme at their 20 November summit in Brussels, while Britain will rejoin the Erasmus+ student exchange programme in 2027 and negotiations on tuition fees continue.
Britain and the European Union are set to agree a scheme allowing young people to live in each other's countries for up to three years, according to a draft joint summit statement seen by Reuters, in one of the most tangible results yet of the two sides' post-Brexit reset.
Under the planned youth experience scheme, people aged 18 to 34 would gain residence rights for up to three years to work, study, volunteer or travel on the other side of the Channel. The draft statement did not specify a cap on numbers, and the document could still change before it is adopted.
The statement also confirms that Britain will join the EU's Erasmus+ student exchange and academic cooperation scheme in 2027, restoring a programme that British students, apprentices and teachers lost access to after Brexit. UK reporting on the agreement puts the first year at 2027/28, with Britain paying £570 million for that year at a discount on standard terms and more than 100,000 people in the UK potentially able to take part.
Erasmus+ today reaches far beyond university undergraduates: apprentices, vocational learners and adult learners can also apply, meaning the reopening could affect trainees and colleges as well as students planning a year abroad.
Tuition fees, however, remain the unresolved part of the package. An agreement on student fees is not expected for another six months, and the two sides are instead set to commit to supplementing their existing trade agreement to provide "equal treatment" with nationals for tuition fees for EU students in Britain and British students in the EU, with a commitment to complete those negotiations within six months.
The stakes for students are significant. EU nationals studying in Britain currently pay international tuition fees, typically around three times the home-fee rate, so equal treatment would mean a major reduction in the cost of a British degree for European students, and the same protection in reverse for Britons studying in the EU.
Part of the delay is procedural: the relevant legislation is still going through the EU's approval process in the European Parliament and among member states, and a final common text is likely to be ready within six months, according to the draft seen by Reuters.
The deals are expected to be confirmed at a summit in Brussels on 20 November, where leaders are also set to ease agrifood trade checks and link the two sides' emissions trading schemes. A youth mobility scheme had been a long-standing EU demand in the reset talks.
Ministers in London have stressed that a youth scheme is not a return to freedom of movement: British officials have said any arrangement will be capped, time-limited and operated through a dedicated visa route, and the final numbers remain one of the points still being negotiated.
If the joint statement is adopted on 20 November, attention will turn to the fee negotiations and their six-month deadline, and to the detailed rules of the youth scheme — including any cap, the visa process and the exact start date — which will decide how many young people can actually use it.
