UK opens door to EU youth visa scheme

Sir Keir Starmer has agreed to negotiate with the EU for a revised youth visa regime that will enable under-30s more freedom of movement.The EU has maintained that Sir Keir is unlikely to achieve a resumption of relations with Brussels without an agreement that would allow 18 to 30-year-olds in the UK and EU to live, work, and study in each other's countries. However, Labour has labeled the European Commission's plans for an expanding youth mobility scheme as a return to "free movement for young people."Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, maintained on Sunday that Labour was opposed to such a scheme, saying it was not the correct method or starting point for negotiations with the EU "because we need to bring net migration down".Behind the scenes, both parties have expressed a willingness to compromise.A senior UK government official stated: "There are no particular measures on the table regarding youth mobility. Obviously, we will consider everything that the European Union proposes." Insiders in Brussels have told The Telegraph that the bloc's 27 member states were willing to soften their earlier expectations on such a scheme in order to make a deal more appealing to Westminster.EU officials have quietly considered rebranding it as a "youth experience scheme" to avoid any association with free movement. They could also impose quotas and reduce a proposed four-year restriction to three, with an initial one-year visa and options for a two-year extension. It is consistent with a warning issued by Nick Thomas Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of EU negotiations, who has reportedly stated that the UK will oppose any proposal that results in unrestricted migration for those under the age of 30.He told a Lords committee that any wider proposal would not be accepted if it led to an increase in net migration. “It depends on precisely what you mean by youth mobility. There is the university sector and Erasmus+, but obviously that has financial implications,” he said.