The new UK government might consider opening negotiations with the EU for a youth mobility programme. This scheme would allow nationals of both the EU and the UK who are under the age of 30 to travel, work and live between 27 countries in the Schengen Area as well as the UK.
According to a UK government source cited by The Times, the newly elected Prime Minister’s office is ready to listen to the EU’s proposal on the matter, Schengen.News reports.
The Youth-Mobility scheme is a programme that would facilitate the movement of young people from the UK and the EU, especially for work, study and travel purposes. This scheme is the key point of negotiation in discussions between the two parties following the post-Brexit situation.
By implementing this programme, the EU and the UK will improve the opportunities for their youngsters and prevent bureaucratic processes such as applying for visas and residence permits – which can be one of the reasons why fewer UK nationals want to move to the EU.
The mobility can also strengthen the relations between the EU and the UK, which has been quite affected by Brexit – the UK leaving the EU back in 2020.
The third aspect of this scheme is the economic and educational impact that it could bring. The implementation of a youth mobility programme could enable the UK to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s study exchange scheme.
According to The Guardian, the UK government is not even considering such an option. A government spokesperson told the Guardian that none of the youth-mobility implementation possibilities have been discussed with the negotiation team.
The EU made a formal proposal to start negotiations for a youth mobility programme with the UK in April but received a negative response from both the Conservative and the Labour parties, indicating that there is no interest in implementing such a programme in the UK at the moment.
Source : https://schengen.news/eu-uk-to-consider-the-option-of-opening-youth-mobility-scheme/