The UK and EU are on course for a bruising clash over Brexit despite both sides targeting a “closer” relationship.
EU demands to accept more migration from Europe as the UK seeks an improved trade deal were met with caution by the new Government, as Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted free movement of people was an issue that will not be revisited.
It comes three months after the European Commission published proposals to make it easier for 18 to 30-year-olds to travel between the UK and EU, and to reverse big post-Brexit increases in tuition fees for European students in Britain.
Since Brexit, EU citizens studying at British universities are treated as international students, so have to pay much more than they did previously, and European figures have since last week’s election pressed Labour for a deal on youth mobility to address this and wider issues.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Britain would be a “good neighbour” to the EU as he targeted a “closer partnership” with the bloc, in an article for a Europe-wide news outlet.
Irish Premier Simon Harris said there would be “space” to get “closer together” under Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Germany said it would work with the new Government “to see how the UK can move closer to the EU”, after talks between Mr Lammy and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.
Mr Harris said he was receptive to UK Government calls for a veterinary agreement to ease trade rules on food travelling between the UK and the EU.
But he also made clear that the EU would make its own calls for concessions from the UK on “student mobility”, which Labour has been resisting, as it could mean higher immigration from Europe, as ministers grapple with the new threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform party, while potentially hitting already stretched university finances due to demands for a reduction in tuition fees.
While the EU does not consider one deal to be conditional on the other, it was a sign of potential sticking points amid the warm words, as Mr Lammy called on both sides to “seize the opportunity for a reset” in relations.
Mr Harris, Ireland’s Taoiseach, told Sky News: “Is there space to have a veterinary agreement, is there space in terms of student mobility, is there space to work closer together on issues? I think there absolutely is.”
A German diplomatic source told i youth mobility was likely to have come up in Lammy’s talks with Baerbock, while Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he discussed “mobility” with the Foreign Secretary during talks on Sunday.
A Government spokesman said “this Government’s position on the EU, including mobility, was clearly set out in the manifesto”, which made no mention of a youth mobility scheme among Labour’s aims for a post-Brexit reset.
i understands there have been no discussions between the UK and EU on specific proposals on youth mobility.
The European Commission’s hopes of winning equal treatment for EU and UK students when it comes to fees is also likely to prove tricky for the new Government.
After Brexit, EU students were moved from a “home” to “international” status, which varies between £11,400 and £38,000 per year. Student visas are another issue, and can be £490, while the healthcare surcharge is usually £776 a year.
Mr Reynolds signalled the UK was willing to meet EU demands to align with Brussels rules on food standards as the price for a veterinary agreement, telling Phillips “we have the same standards as the European Union” in this area.
“If we can sell more whisky, more salmon to a market which is so significant to us, of course we should explore an opportunity like that, he added.
But the Business Secretary was less enthusiastic about potential EU demands for more migration, and ruled out a return to free movement of people, while insisting he would not “pre-empt” talks with Brussels.
“We’re not open to the free movement of people, that is something that is part of membership of the European Union and, as I said, we’re not revisiting that,” he said.
“These are things that I think are in the UK’s interest, they are also in the EU’s interest, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy negotiation, but of course we should always be seeking to make those opportunities real for everyone across the UK.”
Mike Buckley, director of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations, told i he thought it unlikely that Brussels would link youth mobility to a veterinary agreement.
“The EU want a youth mobility deal because UK universities are high-quality, people want to study in English, and it’s seen as righting a wrong – why should young people pay the price of their elders’ failures?
“They see it as a soft rebuilding of links – sending EU students here creates Anglophiles – with the same happening in reverse for UK students going to study in the EU.
“Home fees would be a sticking point – UK universities need a viable funding settlement with applications from the rest of the world down due to Tory language and signalling on immigration, as well as a crackdown on dependent visas, although lowering fees in both sides may not be impossible due to wider economic benefits for the UK.
“Labour have been clear there will be no return to freedom of movement. Sending that message is the priority, all the more given the Reform vote and its location.
“If a deal was agreed I would expect it to have very clear boundaries.”
