Britons under the age of 30 would be allowed to live and work in Europe for up to four years under an EU plan to improve post-Brexit youth mobility.
The European Commission said that it wanted to negotiate a new agreement with the UK that would create a “right” for young people on both sides of the Channel to travel abroad for a longer period of time.
Under the proposals, published on Thursday, anyone aged between 18 and 30 would be eligible for a new visa that would allow them to travel to any EU country for up to four years to work, study or volunteer.
At present, Britons wishing to stay longer than 90 days must apply for a work, education or resident’s visa, a complicated, bureaucratic process that varies from country to country.
Brussels also wants to put in place new rules that would let EU students avoid paying international fees to study at British universities and be treated the same as British students.
The move appears to be designed to appeal to a future Labour government. The party has pledged to prioritise improving the UK’s Brexit deal if it comes to power. However, the EU proposals may create a dilemma for Sir Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election because the Conservatives will likely seek to portray the move as signing up to free movement by the back door.
If agreed, the proposal would open up the British labour market to an influx of cheap European labour — even if limited to the under-30s.
While the issue of youth mobility was discussed during the original Brexit negotiations, no agreement could be reached and since then the government has prioritised striking bilateral deals with individual EU member states.
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Government sources expressed extreme scepticism about the proposal, pointing out that it would be more beneficial to EU citizens than Britons and make it much harder to meet net migration targets. They also pointed out that it would require the UK to drop the health visa surcharge and allow EU citizens access to government-funded apprenticeships.
The EU is proposing that British citizens would be able to access only a single European country rather than being able to travel and work freely around the bloc.
In its announcement, the commission insisted that its proposal was not a return to freedom of movement but would instead widen the opportunities available to young people.
“The envisaged agreement would provide for limited-in-time mobility, subject to the fulfilment of conditions to be checked before the mobility can take place,” it said. “It is not about conferring to young UK nationals the benefits of the fundamental freedom of movement enjoyed by EU citizens.”
Maros Sefcovic, executive vice-president of the commission, who is in charge of relations with the UK, said that it would help to restore some of the rights lost by younger citizens as a result of Brexit.
“The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union has hit young people in the EU and the UK who would like to study, work and live abroad particularly hard,” he said. “Today we take the first step towards an ambitious but realistic agreement between the EU and the UK that would fix this issue. Our aim is to rebuild human bridges between young Europeans on both sides of the Channel.”
The commission’s plan still has to be agreed by EU leaders and would be subject to a negotiation with the UK. Sources in the EU said that the proposal was aimed at stopping Britain from negotiating preferential and bilateral agreements with countries such as France or Germany while ignoring less appealing and poorer European member states.
“This proposal is aimed at preserving the interests of the union as a priority and that is reflected in its balance in ensuring European young people are the main beneficiaries,” an official said. “It would address the current issue of discrimination by the UK of some union nationals from the beginning. The current paths into the UK are too limited, impose quotas, [have] short time limitations with no accompanying family members and are expensive, with high visa fees and a healthcare surcharge.”
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In Britain, industry leaders and pro-EU campaigners have long been pushing for an EU-wide visa scheme to make it easier for young Britons to travel and work in the bloc, and vice versa.
Naomi Smith, the chief executive of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, described the proposal as a “landmark intervention”, adding: “Until a reciprocal EU-UK youth mobility scheme is formalised, our young people will continue to be robbed of the irreplaceable formative experiences their parents and older siblings enjoyed, because of a failed Brexit project they did not vote for.”
The Labour Party said: “Labour has no plans for a youth mobility scheme. We have already suggested some tangible ways that we would look to improve the relationship and deliver for British businesses and consumers, including seeking a veterinary agreement to tackle trade barriers, mutual recognition of professional qualifications and improved touring opportunities for artists.”
