{"id":858627,"date":"2026-03-29T17:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/858627\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T17:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:13:20","slug":"eu-proposes-emergency-brake-to-control-numbers-on-youth-exchange-scheme-with-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/858627\/","title":{"rendered":"EU proposes \u2018emergency brake\u2019 to control numbers on youth exchange scheme with Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The European Union is resisting Britain\u2019s demands for a cap on the number of people able to live and work in the UK under a new youth exchange scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brussels<\/a> has proposed an alternative mechanism to control numbers<\/a> involved in the planned scheme, which would allow Britons<\/a> and citizens of EU states to live, work and study in each other\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

But the UK remains committed to a hard annual cap on numbers \u2013 which would be in the tens of thousands \u2013 and the row risks souring a major summit meeting between Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> and Brussels chiefs in the summer.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are expected to meet at a summit this summer (Carl Court\/PA)<\/p>\n

EU insiders view the proposed \u201cyouth experience scheme\u201d for under-30s as a way to build bridges between younger Britons and Brussels after the Brexit vote almost a decade ago.<\/p>\n

There is concern a restrictive cap would undermine a scheme intended to cement a positive relationship between the UK and EU.<\/p>\n

An EU source said: \u201cThis is really a very strategic endeavour. The strategy is about ensuring that our societies keep linked, understand each other and see each other as part of the same family of nations. This is something that is really needed in these troubled times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Europe has to stand together, it has to feel a common sense of purpose when it comes to international relations and democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsuring that our young people can travel to each other\u2019s countries, work, study in each other\u2019s countries is an important\u00a0part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Keir has insisted the scheme must have \u201cappropriate time limits, caps and visa requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n

Officials have compared the proposals to a similar programme in operation with Australia, which has a cap of 45,000.<\/p>\n

But senior EU sources said the proposed measure was \u201cnot a migration scheme\u201d and did not need a cap.<\/p>\n

An EU official said there could be \u201ca monitoring system to ensure both sides are equally satisfied with the way the scheme is operating\u201d and \u201cit\u2019s about the management of flows rather than an upfront number\u201d.<\/p>\n

The proposed mechanism has been described in Westminster as an \u201cemergency brake\u201d which could be applied if numbers were too high, drawing comparisons with then-prime minister David Cameron\u2019s attempts to control EU citizens\u2019 access to benefits in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.<\/p>\n

However, Whitehall sources said anything other than a firm cap would be unacceptable to the Home Office, responsible for migration policy, or the Foreign Office.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe summit this summer will come 10 years after the June 2016 Brexit referendum (Yui Mok\/PA)<\/p>\n

The EU and UK are also at odds over university tuition fees that would be charged to students from the bloc studying at British institutions. EU negotiators want students from the bloc to pay the same rate as their British counterparts, rather than the higher fees charged to international students.<\/p>\n

The youth experience scheme is one of three areas where the government and the EU hope to forge closer ties when they meet for a summit, which is expected in June or early July.<\/p>\n

There is broad consensus on the other two areas, agreements on food safety and emissions trading.<\/p>\n

A UK government spokesperson said: \u201cWe will not give a running commentary on ongoing talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working together with the EU to create a balanced youth experience scheme which will create new opportunities for young people to live, work, study and travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny final scheme must be time-limited, capped and will be based on our existing youth mobility schemes, which do not include access to home tuition fee status.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Labour MP Stella Creasy<\/a>, chair of the Labour Movement for Europe, said there should be less concern about the number of people involved in the scheme, adding: \u201cThis is a deal that will bring back freedoms young Britons from all backgrounds lost with Brexit, as well as boosting growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-858627","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-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116313588642517098","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858627","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=858627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}