As European and British negotiators eye upcoming mobility deal summit, the contours of the main sticking points make themselves clear. Meanwhile, some continental universities benefit from the status quo.
Ireland’s European affairs minister, Thomas Byrne, held “productive” talks on Monday with his UK counterpart, Hamish Falconer, ahead of this year’s planned summit on the youth experience scheme. As Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, it has been working to advance the negotiations. Mr Byrne told the Financial Times that the scheme would “bring huge benefits for British students as well as EU students”.
British officials have previously suggested limiting participation to around 50k people annually, while EU diplomats now consider a figure above 100k more acceptable, the Financial Times reported. Brussels also wants EU students attending British universities through the scheme to pay domestic ‘home fees’ rather than the higher fees charged to international students. This dispute has become one of the main obstacles to a wider EU–UK agreement expected at a summit later this year, putting the fresh British PM Andy Burnham under pressure of sorts.
A visa route, not free movement
Council Decision (EU) 2025/1286 from June 2025 authorised the Commission to negotiate a youth experience agreement with the UK. A later EU–UK understanding proposed a visa route allowing young people to work, study, volunteer, travel, undertake apprenticeships, or work as au pairs for a limited period.
The scheme did not restore freedom of movement. Participants would still have to meet immigration requirements, while British citizens admitted by one EU country would not automatically gain the right to live or work elsewhere in the bloc. Unlike the rights available before Brexit, the scheme would provide limited and conditional mobility.
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Tuition fees also remain a major legislative issue. Most EU students lost access to British home-fee rates and student finance after the Brexit transition period. The Commission’s original proposal called for equal treatment of eligible EU and British participants.
A new agreement could therefore restore home-fee status for participating EU students without necessarily giving them access to tuition loans or maintenance support. The UK would need to incorporate the agreement into its domestic rules, while differences between the higher-education systems of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland could complicate its implementation.
Students have already changed direction
The effects of the existing rules are visible in university applications. EU undergraduate applications to British universities fell by 58 per cent between 2020 and 2024 after EU students lost access to domestic fees, student loans, and visa-free study.
At the same time, some continental universities now attract more students from both the EU and UK. Applications from outside Italy to Milan’s Bocconi University have more than doubled since 2023 and now represent 60 per cent of applications to its bachelor programmes, according to figures reported by the Financial Times. Applications from the UK increased by more than 175 per cent over the same period. E.g., Bocconi charges around €18k annually, considerably less than the international fees at some leading British universities.
The scheme would bring huge benefits for British students as well as EU students. — Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s European affairs minister
Almost seven per cent of British private-school leavers now enrol at universities abroad, compared with five per cent in 2021. The figures suggest that Brexit has not simply reduced student mobility. It has redirected it towards universities that offer English-language education without the cost and immigration barriers now associated with studying in the UK.
Erasmus+ will not settle the fee dispute
The youth experience scheme is legally separate from the UK’s return to Erasmus+ in 2027. The UK has signed the agreement enabling it to rejoin the programme, with placements expected to begin in the 2027–28 academic year.
Erasmus+ supports temporary exchanges, training, apprenticeships, volunteering, and cooperation between educational institutions. It does not determine the fees paid by students completing an entire degree abroad. Rejoining the programme will therefore restore some exchange opportunities but will not resolve the dispute over home-fee status.
The negotiations therefore concern more than the size of a mobility scheme. They will determine which post-Brexit barriers the two sides are prepared to remove and which will remain. The summit was originally planned for July but was postponed following the change of government head in the UK. Mr Byrne told the Financial Times that both sides intend to hold it as soon as possible, but it will still require a lot of work.
