Brussels wants post-Brexit talks with UK on new youth mobility rights

LONDON — The European Commission is eager to start talks with the United Kingdom over a post-Brexit deal to improve opportunities for young people to live, work and study abroad.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the EU’s executive said it would ask member states on the EU Council for permission to negotiate a bloc-wide youth mobility agreement with London — while accusing the U.K. of attempting to cherry-pick select member states.

“The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union has hit young people in the EU and the U.K. who would like to study, work and live abroad particularly hard,” said Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president in charge of relations with the U.K.

“Today, we take the first step towards an ambitious but realistic agreement between the EU and the U.K. that would fix this issue," he added. "Our aim is to rebuild human bridges between young Europeans on both sides of the Channel.”

The Commission said an envisaged deal would allow EU and U.K. citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 to stay in the destination country for four years, subject to certain criteria, during which beneficiaries would be free to take up activities like work or study.

Mobility should not be restricted by a quota or “excessive” visa fees, and any deal should include “equal treatment” when it comes to taking jobs and paying fees for higher education, the Commission also said.

That would make it more ambitious than a Youth Mobility Scheme that London has offered to some EU member states — for example, by excluding EU participants from paying the health surcharge to access the U.K.’s National Health Service.

However, it said any deal would not replace the freedom of movement the U.K. gave up when it left the bloc, which resulted in new barriers for Brits looking to move abroad.

It also said the deal would be distinct to the U.K. rejoining the Europe-wide Erasmus+ program, which had previously made it easier for students to study abroad.

Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government chose to leave the scheme as it judged the price tag for continued participation too high, given lower take up by British youngsters.

The Commission’s proposal follows dispute about whether any youth mobility agreement with the U.K. should be EU-wide, or whether individual EU countries should strike their own accords with London.

“The U.K. has shown interest in the issue by reaching out to a number of Member States on youth mobility,” the Commission said Thursday.

But it said “only an EU-level approach will ensure that all Member States are treated equally in respect of mobility of young people to the U.K.”

A European Commission advisory body, the European Economic and Social Committee, earlier this month called on the Commission to focus on youth mobility — including getting the U.K. back into the Erasmus+ exchange scheme.

The U.K. Home Office has been contacted for comment.