EU offers UK ‘emergency brake’ on numbers for new youth mobility scheme

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Brussels is offering Britain an “emergency brake”-style mechanism to control any big surge in young people travelling to the UK under a new youth mobility scheme, as the two sides try to hammer out a deal before a crucial summit this summer.

The EU has so far rejected Britain’s demand that the youth scheme — seen as a key part of efforts to rebuild relations 10 years after the Brexit vote — should be subject to an upfront cap on numbers to allay public concerns about immigration.

The issue has dogged negotiations, with EU capitals struggling to understand why Britain views a time-limited “youth experience scheme” in the same way as regular migration. “This is not a migration scheme,” said one EU official.

But as the key summit expected in late June or early July looms, Brussels has signalled it is willing to accept British sensitivities on the issue.

It has proposed a mechanism to “manage flows” of young people — although it does not like the phrase “emergency brake”, a concept introduced by former Conservative premier David Cameron in an ill-fated attempt to contain EU migration before the 2016 Brexit vote.

But one EU official said a compromise could be reached where both sides have the right to suspend the allocation of youth visas if numbers using the scheme became unacceptably high.

“It’s about the management of flows rather than an upfront number,” said the EU official. “It would be a monitoring system to ensure both sides are equally satisfied with the way the scheme is operating.”

However, British officials close to the negotiations said that while the idea of some kind of “emergency brake” system was “interesting”, it was still a “non-starter” and that the UK would insist on a cap on numbers before the youth scheme started.

This echoes a statement from Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain’s EU relations minister, who said at the start of negotiations that “we have agreed that any scheme will be capped as well as time limited.”

He said it would be modelled on existing youth mobility schemes that Britain has agreed with 13 non-EU countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

In 2024, the UK granted 24,400 youth mobility scheme visas to those countries, while 68,495 UK citizens are estimated to have emigrated to Australia, New Zealand and Canada alone, creating a net outflow of migrants of more than 44,000.

The cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission has suggested that the youth experience scheme with the EU should be capped at 44,000 in the first year so there is no overall effect on net migration.

Meanwhile, Brussels continues to push for EU students arriving in Britain under the scheme to have access to UK universities under the same fees payable by British students, an idea that has been rejected by London.

EU students, in effect, subsidise domestic students who pay £9,535 annually and the UK university sector has said it cannot afford to reduce their fees.

The summer summit is a big moment for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, as it puts re-engagement with Europe at the heart of a strategy to boost growth at a time when the economy is slowing because of the Iran war shock.

Both sides are working to finalise an agreement to cut barriers to trade in agriculture and food products along with energy, as well as a youth mobility scheme. Work on the three areas began after the first such EU/UK summit last May.

Brussels and London are working to overcome differences over British participation in the so-called “Safe” European defence fund. The UK did not join the first round of funding after refusing to pay the €1bn plus membership fee demanded by the EU.

“On SAFE and potential follow-up programmes, we can do better than what we have done up to now,” the EU official said. “And that it is quite likely that efforts will continue to see how we can work together and with the UK to reinforce our defence industry.”

There are also hopes on both sides of the English Channel that new EU efforts to tackle the flow of illegal migrants through the bloc could lead to fewer people crossing to Britain in small boats.

A UK government spokesperson said of the suggested emergency brake mechanism: “We will not give a running commentary on ongoing talks.

“We 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.”