{"id":639452,"date":"2025-12-18T03:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/639452\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T03:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:10:19","slug":"erasmus-deal-opens-door-for-18-30-youth-exchange-brexit-reset-scheme-with-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/639452\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus deal \u2018opens door\u2019 for 18-30 youth exchange Brexit reset scheme with EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u00a3570m deal for the UK to rejoin the EU\u2019s Erasmus student exchange scheme<\/a> has raised hopes for Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s wider Brexit reset, including a new under-30s visa scheme.<\/p>\n

The two sides announced the agreement to end Britain\u2019s six-year Brexit-triggered exile from Erasmus on Wednesday, confirming The i Paper\u2019s reporting last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is the first concrete deal signed after the Prime Minister agreed a headline package to reset relations with the EU in May, and reversed a decision by Boris Johnson to quit Erasmus due to concerns it did not offer value for money.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

Erasmus provides funding for students to study abroad for between two and 12 months. They pay the fees due to their home universities or institutions, with help given for living costs.<\/p>\n

Erasmus could benefit 100,000 people in UK<\/p>\n

Ministers said more than 100,000 people in the UK could benefit from Erasmus from January 2027, with funding provided for studying, training and work experience abroad for people of all ages. People from the EU will be able to benefit in the same way by accessing programmes in the UK.<\/p>\n

They also stressed that much of the \u00a3570m, covering one year of the scheme in 2027, would come back to the UK \u00a0via funding for\u00a0those taking part\u00a0in the scheme\u00a0or in grants and pointed to a review mechanism to ensure a \u201cfair balance\u201d of British and EU participation.<\/p>\n

However, The i Paper understands the financial commitment is so far unfunded, meaning Chancellor Rachel Reeves will have to find the cash to pay for it in her next Budget, while No 10 refused to deny that British negotiators had tried to secure a bigger discount than the 30 per cent agreed by the two sides.<\/p>\n

Officials and experts nevertheless suggested the agreement could also strengthen Britain\u2019s hands in wider Brexit reset negotiations, which are designed to boost the economy.<\/p>\n

The two sides on Tuesday also committed to completing talks on a so-called \u201cyouth experience\u201d visa scheme for under-30s, a food trade deal, and linking carbon markets next year.<\/p>\n

The youth experience scheme \u2013 initially resisted by Starmer amid political pressure on migration \u2013 could prove the trickiest to negotiate.<\/p>\n

Under-30s deal sticking point over university fees<\/p>\n

It differs to Erasmus in that young people would be able to come from the EU to the UK, or the other way, for up to two years in order to study, work or travel. <\/p>\n

One of the sticking point in negotiations is UK demands that EU students pay international fees, while the EU wants its students to pay UK domestic fees.<\/p>\n

But UK officials believe the Erasmus deal can strengthen their argument in rebuffing demands for EU citizens to be charged lower domestic university fees in Britain, rather than the much higher international fees they currently face, as there is an alternative study route.<\/p>\n

The Government argues it would be financially unsustainable for cash-strapped universities to lower fees for EU students.<\/p>\n

But Brussels has made lowering fees a central demand in the talks.<\/p>\n

A Whitehall source meanwhile told The i Paper the Government was beginning to argue with the EU that the youth experience scheme should be more like the UK\u2019s mobility deal with Australia, which is focused on work, rather than study.<\/p>\n

One senior British official suggested that opening up UK universities via Erasmus could help negotiators resist the EU demands for lower fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy doing the Erasmus scheme, it shows that we are very committed to mobility across the university sector, but only in ways that kind of make financial sense,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA youth mobility scheme will allow people to go and have broader experiences in the country. In other words, it\u2019s not just about students. It\u2019s about being able to work. It\u2019s about being able to travel around. It\u2019s about being able to kind of balance work with study.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erasmus a \u2018down payment of goodwill\u2019<\/p>\n

Former UK trade official David Henig said Starmer and his team could argue that Erasmus is \u201cthe down payment of goodwill needed to make the [wider] negotiations a success\u201d, adding there are \u201csuggestions that the EU is starting to walk back on tuition fees, knowing that won\u2019t be possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

However an EU source made it clear Brussels\u2019 position on fees \u201cremains strong\u201d.<\/p>\n

Brexit Reset Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds described the Erasmus deal as a \u201chuge win for our young people\u201d as he attempted to fend off criticism over its \u00a3570m cost.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Symonds and No 10 pointed out that much of the money will come back to the UK to be distributed to those taking part in the scheme, while Britain will also be able to compete for a share of \u00a31bn in EU grants.<\/p>\n

There will also be a review after 10 months to ensure there is a \u201cfair balance\u201d in the number of UK students going abroad and EU students coming to the UK, he told the Commons.<\/p>\n

As well as university-based study exchanges, Erasmus+ will allow further education students and apprentices to take up work placements in European firms.<\/p>\n

There will be exchange opportunities for adult learners, school groups and sports coaches \u2013 and job shadowing and training abroad will be available to education staff.<\/p>\n

Ministers aim to maximise take-up, particularly among disadvantaged groups, by working with institutions and young people.<\/p>\n

\t\tYour next read<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\"Article <\/a><\/p>\n

A UK national agency will be set up to run the programme.<\/p>\n

The Government also hailed an agreement to start talks on the UK participating in the EU\u2019s internal electricity market, which it says could lower electricity costs at home.<\/p>\n

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel accused ministers of \u201cthrowing away billions of pounds of hard-pressed taxpayers\u2019 money on rejoining Erasmus\u201d as they \u201ccontinue to betray Brexit\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u00a3570m deal for the UK to rejoin the EU\u2019s Erasmus student exchange scheme has raised hopes for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,51827,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,3027,15065,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-639452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-erasmus","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european","14":"tag-european-union","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-politics-news","17":"tag-students","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115738380000679025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}