The Observer View: Youth Mobility Must Be Part Of Post-brexit Reset

Keir Starmer’s parochial stance on mooted scheme is short sighted and bodes ill for resetting relationship with Brussels

Britons aged 18 to 30 can apply for visas to live and work for a limited time in 13 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as part of reciprocal youth mobility schemes. They are a good opportunity for some young people to broaden their horizons and experience living abroad, and for cultural exchange. But there is no such scheme in place with countries across Europe; after Britain left the EU in 2016 and British citizens lost their right to free movement across its member states, any prospect of youth mobility disappeared with it.

There are clear signs that the EU wants to change that. The European Commission has drafted proposals for a UK-EU youth mobility scheme that would enable UK and EU citizens aged 18 to 30 to travel to the EU or the UK respectively to live there for up to four years for any purpose including work, travel or study, so long as they have health insurance and can prove they have the means to support themselves. The commission has also proposed that UK and EU students should be treated as domestic students in the EU and UK respectively. There are many in Brussels who see agreement to at least some form of youth mobility scheme as a precursor to any Labour reset of relations with the EU.