Benefits of youth mobility scheme<\/p>\n
The announcement did not come as a surprise, as the UK\u2019s European relations minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, had already confirmed, for the first time, the government\u2019s interest in a \u2018youth mobility scheme\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more: Are French residency card holders affected by 90\/180 days rule when travelling inside EU?<\/a><\/p>\n UK ministers previously said the country had no such plans.<\/p>\n \u201cA smart, controlled youth mobility scheme would of course have benefits for our young people\u201d, Mr Thomas-Symonds told UK journalists.<\/p>\n This came as, in May, the European Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, also referred to \u201crebuilding bridges for our young people\u201d as one of the areas in which they saw scope for a deeper UK-EU relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Starmer had also indicated support, saying: \u201cWe\u2019ve got red lines, but we\u2019re pragmatists\u201d.<\/p>\n In 2024, the commission proposed negotiations on an agreement allowing 18 to 30-year-olds to apply for a visa to spend up to four years in the UK or EU for any reason. At the time, Labour and the Conservative government rejected this saying it looked too much like free movement.<\/p>\n Prior to May\u2019s summit, the Financial Times reported seeing EU briefing documents \u201cdiscussed by EU ambassadors\u201d saying that the EU was proposing a visa enabling work, study, or simply travel, as long as the young person shows sufficient funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n The documents said the UK is open to \u201cexploring\u201d this, but wants it to be time-limited and with no possibility of applicants bringing dependents or accessing benefits.<\/p>\n The EU was also reportedly asking that EU citizens be able to return to paying the UK\u2019s reduced \u2018home\u2019 fees to attend UK universities, while the UK was looking for an easing of rules for touring artists.<\/p>\n The EU may be open to accepting a visa for as little as 12 months and may accept quotas and\/or limits on work sectors open to the visa holders, the Guardian reports inside sources as saying.<\/p>\n