Is EU's 'Youth Mobility' they want Sir Keir to sign up to another name for 'free movement'?

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

We reveal the EU Commission’s creeping plans for the UK to open its doors again

At Sir Keir Starmer's 'EU Reset' summit a week today, one of the items on the agenda is the EU's demand for a 'youth mobility scheme'. With his desire to improve relations and his wish-list of improvements he wants, this report looks at what such a scheme could mean in practice for the UK. Specifically we reveal what happened the last time the UK's doors were thrown open to the youth of Europe.

The EU's plans are well-established. It is not generally known but the EU first asked for such a scheme over a year ago and we detail this below. It is highly unlikely that they will want to let this new opportunity pass them by, when they know how keen the PM is to agree so many other issues with them next Monday.

On 18 Apr 2024 the EU Commission announced proposals to open discussions with the UK to allow free movement again, initially for young people aged 18-30. The Commission went on to say this agreement “could be usefully supported by a parallel discussion on the possible association of the UK to Erasmus+”.

Here is what the EU Commission statement said last year

“The withdrawal of the UK from the EU has resulted in decreased mobility between the EU and the UK.
This situation has particularly affected the opportunities for young people to experience life on the other side of the Channel and to benefit from youth, cultural, educational, research and training exchanges.”

They went to say their plans are “to enable young people to move without being tied to a purpose (i.e. to allow for studying, training or working), or quota-bound.” In addition, “The Commission's proposal on an EU-UK agreement on youth mobility could be usefully supported by a parallel discussion on the possible association of the UK to Erasmus+.”

What happened the last time the EU's youth were allowed into the UK?

The EU has a scheme called 'Erasmus+' which is mistakenly believed in the UK to be about student exchanges. In fact it goes much deeper than that - much closer to the 'youth mobility scheme' the EU plans to persuade Sir Keir Starmer to agree to next week. Here is how the EU Commission describes it:

“Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.”
“It is open to school pupils, higher education and vocational education and training students, adult learners, youth exchanges, youth workers and sport coaches.”

This is not a description of an exchange programme, allowing students at UK universities to spend part of their degree courses at EU universities. It is a far wider programme, involving sport, youth and adult work, and other activities, and it is vastly expensive, costing billions. (See below.)

How many young people from the UK actually benefited from Erasmus+?

This is the key question. How many students benefited from the billions the UK spent with the EU on the Erasmus+ programme?

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

99.6% of UK students didn’t even use the EU’s youth system, while EU27 students benefited hugely

Erasmus+ was used by only 9,993 UK students in the pre-Covid year of 2019 [Source: EU Commission]
That's less than 10,000 (0.4%) out of a total of 2,383,970 higher education students in the UK [source:HESA]
99.6% of UK students did not even use it at all
This alone made the costs completely unjustifiable

How many more young people from the EU came to the UK using the scheme?

[All figures for the pre-Covid year of 2018/2019]

UK students in the EU : 9,993 [Source: EU Commission]
EU students in the UK : 143,000 [Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)]

How much did it cost UK and EU taxpayers?

In 2019, the UK received only €87m (c.£79 million GBP) in grants for higher education students. This is out of a total EU budget for Erasmus+ of €16.4 billion over the period 2014-2020, an average of €2.34bn euros per year or c.£2 billion pounds per year. This includes the 'extras' which the EU spends for Erasmus+ outside the EU.

These already huge costs have risen dramatically, as the Erasmus budget has been increased by an eye-watering 74%. The new budget (including the extras) is €28.4bn compared to 16.38bn in the last budget.

The UK taxpayer was funding Erasmus+ to the tune of approximately £266 million pounds per year.
Had the UK stayed in the EU, this would now have increased to approximately £463m per year.

We should also point out that €1.7bn of the EU’s budget went to other countries outside the EU, as part of the EU’s ‘External Action’ programme. This carried on throughout 2020, despite the UK having no say in how the money was spent.

So what are the EU's plans for its youth and why are they dangerous?

Erasmus+ is part of the “EU Youth Strategy” and the “European Education Area”. Here is what the EU Commission has to say about these.

“The EU Youth Strategy should contribute to realising this vision of young people by mobilising EU level policy instruments as well as actions at national, regional and local level by all stakeholders.”
“Erasmus+ doesn't just have opportunities for students… it has opportunities for a wide variety of individuals and organisations…. Erasmus+ also aims to promote the sustainable development of its partners in the field of higher education, and contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy.”

In October 2020 the EU Commission announced that it would be completing a “European Education Area” by 2025, thereby moving one further step towards the homogenisation of the formerly independent nation states of Europe.

For years the EU has been achieving its goal by targeting young people with continuous propaganda and ‘initiatives’ as we have reported many times before. Here is what they said about their latest move:-

“The European Education Area is underpinned by six dimensions: quality, inclusion and gender equality, green and digital transitions, teachers, higher education, a stronger Europe in the world. Initiatives will inter alia look at ways to enhance quality, notably with regard to basic and digital skills and to make school education more inclusive and gender sensitive and improve school success. They will help strengthen understanding of climate change and sustainability, foster the greening of education infrastructure, support the teaching profession, further roll out European Universities and enhance connectivity among education and training institutions.
“The Communication sets out the means and milestones to achieve the European Education Area by 2025, supported by Europe's Recovery Plan (NextGenerationEU) and the Erasmus+ Programme.”

Observations

The EU wants a 'youth mobility scheme' because it is in their interests, not those of the UK. For them it would be a popular result, given that so many young people from the EU would love to come and live in the UK.

This is not true in the other direction. Over all the years they could travel freely to live, work, or study in the EU, young British people showed little inclination to do so. In fact, looking at students as one group, their most popular destinations were countries like the US and Australia.

Sir Keir Starmer should therefore reject the EU's demands and instead offer a far more limited arrangement but in doing so he should demand something in return, such as the EU taking fishing off the table at his summit and leaving this to be negotiated as it should be over the next year. This would result in a fisheries deal that respects the interests of British fishermen first.

[ Sources: EU Commission | HESA ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 13 May 2025

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Reader Comments 15

1. Sparky , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 04:52:

UK universities have seen a significant decline in students from the EU since Leaving. Foreign students pay around £22,00 pa whilst UK students pay around £9,000 pa. UK universities are among the best in the world and should be supported in maintaining that position. We need UK universities to thrive if we are going to provide the education the country requires as long as it is in the subjects the country requires not just numbers that Blair Govt focussed on.
.
YouGov carried out a survey on how people felt about Brexit 5 years on early this year. 18-24 age group who didn't get to vote in the Ref: showed lowest support for Brexit and highest support for closer ties with the EU.
.
BRINO
.
Amusing that on a piece about Universities, Facts4EU managed to worki out that 9,993 students in 2019 is less than 10,000

2. Ashley Great Britain , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 07:43:

1 Sparky.
-
Thanks for your trade mark waffle.
-
Starmer is guaranteed to sign up to some form of EU youth free movement. He's also guaranteed to ignore fishing in his discussions.
Any re alignment with EU rules and programs will only be beneficial to the EU. Brexit was far from fully achieved, and now with open rejoiners in charge it is in severe peril.
Labours upcoming EU discussions will sadly be monumental in their damage to the UK.
Even Kemi Badenoch is saying Cons would reverse the sell out. Of course they are only saying that now to gain political favour, the conservatives would absolutely never reverse any detrimental Labour give aways, because, at heart they agree with labours stance.

3. NH , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 09:33:

1. Sp.
EU students can presently come to UK Universities by applying for a Student Visa and paying the same fees as other international students but that's not what the EU want they want preferential treatment. They want to pay the same fees as UK students and be exempt from the UK Healthcare Surcharge. If Kier Stammer agrees to this it's very likely that other countries that we trade with will demand equal treatment.
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The UK public is presently liable for approximately £6 Billion of Student loans taken out by EU students prior to 2021. Normally student loans are collected by the Inland Revenue but early reports stated they did not even know were most of the EU students were. I have no idea how much of these loans will be paid back but I suspect this will be another hidden cost of EU membership. The EU has a history of killing the careers of UK Prime Ministers. I don't know what Kier Starmer will agree to but I suspect he is going to go the same way and he'll take the Labour Party with him.
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As usual Facts4EU present official statistics and you resort to quoting organisations that have large financial contracts with the EU and who's business is completely controlled by the EU.

4. RJ , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 09:59:

It's all about cheap Labour isn't it? Virtually, the whole Remainer movement is driven by big business. They have never played fair and unable to abide by democracy. In desperation, it's now about back door rejoining with corrupt politicians doing their bidding.
We need Reform and quick.

5. KB , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:09:

I think a lot of people are going to be upset if we start giving away £466 million per year to Erasmus+.
We can't even afford to resurface the roads, which are now third-world.

6. Diane , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:12:

I seem to recall Erasmus was turned down during Leave negotiations due to the likely cost of £2 billion at the time. There is very little we hear regarding the UK's own Turing Scheme. The uk.gov website does give some info & funding details and a 2025/6 overview. It's open to UK, & non-UK people if they are living here. It's also open to so called underprivileged and those with special needs.
The government has previously said that there were "no plans" to introduce a visa scheme for young Europeans but since, a spokesman for the PM has refused to repeat the claim. Earlier this year the Home Sec. reported as saying that Labour was not in favour of such a scheme. One has to question exactly why the EU has been so very persistent on our agreeing to this scheme. Not even subtle about it. It's been said that the UK will get nothing unless we agree to it. Much is dependent on it apparently. Are the politicians asking why ? I think many people will have their own and very valid opinions and concerns with the EU's continued insistence.

7. NH , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:39:

1. Sp.
I'm not a believer in the accuracy of polls but as you are, here's one from yesterday (Freshwater Strategy/City AM)
.
Leader Approval Rating
Farage - 8
Badenoch -12 to -15
Starmer -36 to -39
.
Voting Intentions
Reform 32%
Labour 22%
Conservatives 19%
.
What were you saying about people's desire to have closer ties with the EU ?

8. KB , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:49:

Starmer will give way completely on FoM for young people and on fishing licences.
What is worse is the EU negotiating side know this full well already.
This is in exchange for the following privileges:
a Defence Pact that will see us giving away both money and sovereignty.
A treaty on veterinary alignment which could severely hamper trade deals with the rest of the world, and in which we would have no say in changes to regulations.
Another truly rotten "deal" is coming our way, we can see it a mile off.

9. RJ , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 11:05:

KB
And that is the sickening thing as Starmer has no mandate to give the EU anything. What we are truly seeing is politicians sticking two fingers up a democracy and the people. This country is being screwed into the ground by vile, self serving leaders.

10. LuxuryBalloon , Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 13:55:

I am very concerned that our youngsters will be ‘corrupted’ by EU people if they spend time in Europe. Our youngsters might not be able to handle freedom of movement that we had and bring back pro-EU ideas back to the UK. I think it is very important we limit opportunities for our younger generations … it will toughen them up, make them work harder … they will thank us for it in the future.

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