The EU is prepared to make major concessions in negotiations to allow British and European 18- to 30-year-olds to travel and work freely, potentially paving the way for a long-awaited reset with Brussels.
A scheme that would allow thousands of young Europeans to live and work in the UK has been seen as a key EU demand in reaching a post-Brexit pact incorporating defence, energy and migration.
It is understood that EU member states could now be willing to limit work visas to as little as 12 months, with quotas on numbers and restrictions on the sectors EU citizens could work in.
They are also open to a “one in, one out” style plan being considered by the home secretary.
EU sources said the scheme would be rebranded the “youth experience” programme in order to eliminate any suggestion that it was reopening immigration routes for EU citizens wanting to live and work in the UK.
Asked about the prospect of a youth mobility scheme on Friday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “Both sides are discussing a wide range of issues, which is entirely normal for a negotiation.”
The EU first proposed a youth mobility scheme that would allow young people to work or study for up to four years in each other’s countries in April 2024, but it was rejected by Labour and the Conservatives.
After a year of discussion, sources say it is such a priority for key EU member states including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, that compromises need to be made.
One source said a one-year visa with an option of a further one- or two-year extension could land better politically.
The UK already takes part in a youth mobility scheme, which allows people from 12 non-EU nations to work in the country for a two- or three-year period. Home Office data shows just 23,000 young people came into the UK as part of the scheme in 2023, with 9,900 of them from Australia.
Signalling a melting away of Eurosceptic resistance to any special youth visa deal with the EU, the Brexit campaigner and former government minister Steve Baker has given it his backing, saying it would be a “good thing” and “absolutely would not amount to a return to EU free movement”.
But the former chair of the European Research Group called the controversy over the scheme a “red herring” designed to distract voter attention from a food and drink standards deal that is also being mooted, which he says would put a US trade agreement in jeopardy.
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, insisted the government was not going to “breach” its manifesto commitments on freedom of movement, telling Times Radio: “We’re very clear in our manifesto that there won’t be any return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement, and that remains our position.”
Speaking in Washington before a meeting with the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the UK’s trading relationship with the EU was “arguably even more important” than its relationship with the US.
The German ambassador to the UK has said he was “really optimistic” about the prospects of a youth mobility scheme deal being reached, after a meeting between Keir Starmer and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday. Ambassadors in Europe will be debriefed next Wednesday.
Miguel Berger told the BBC Radio 4: “I am now pretty optimistic that we are moving in a good direction.
“It would make it possible for young people with parents with a lower income to experience the possibility to work abroad, to learn a language, and we would like to have this in both directions,” Berger said.
“There is a very serious and dedicated preparatory work for the summit on May 19,” he said referring to the UK-EU summit to be held in London next month.
Baker said: “To have a capped, time-limited scheme for European young people would be a good thing, and absolutely would not amount to a return to EU free movement, which is uncapped for unlimited duration and requires nations to treat European citizens as their own. Any confusion over this should be quickly cleared up.”
But he urged that more attention be paid to the possibility of a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal to eliminate checks on food and drink exports, saying anything that obliged the UK to follow EU rules again would compromise a US trade deal and economic growth to sustain pension payouts 10 years down the line.
Baker said: “While we are arguing about this complete red herring, the UK looks set to take EU rules on food and products, which will put us in breach of our obligations under the Pacific Rim trade deal and rule out doing a trade deal with the USA. That matters, because that’s where the economic growth is going to come from. And without growth, we will default on pension obligations.”
Labour and the EU are working on seven pillars that would then feed into a declaration known as a “common understanding”, which would be followed by detailed negotiations to hammer out the specifics.
“No decisions are expected to be made during the summit itself. At most, there could be a mutual commitment to exploring possible avenues for an agreement on these issues,” said a EU source.
The seven areas are: defence and security, carbon pricing, migration, youth experience, energy, and fishing, but some groups say the talks lack ambition.
Some member states are also making a “strong ask” for the UK to return to the Erasmus+ university and vocational exchange programme and a deal to allow citizens to study in each others universities paying home fees. This is something of a non-starter for the UK because of the imbalance of students coming to Britain in the past compared to British studying in the EU.
An official business consultation body set up under the Brexit trade and cooperation agreement has called on the government to go further in its negotiations and seek the removal of bans on the export of British seed potatoes to the EU, of barriers on batch testing of pharmaceuticals, and mutual recognition agreements on professional qualifications.
The Domestic Advisory Group is also asking for removal of barriers for touring musicians and artists and their support staff.
In a submission to the UK government it also calls for an agreement to allow easier access to veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland and a return to joint regulation for chemicals.
