The UK is hoping to secure an agreement within weeks to rejoin the EU’s flagship student mobility programme, as part of a drive to pursue closer relations with Brussels after a setback on defence.
Negotiators are aiming to finalise a deal by January that would allow the UK to participate in Erasmus from 2027 onwards, according to two UK and EU officials.
The UK quit Erasmus after Brexit, when Boris Johnson claimed the programme did not offer good value for money. The Labour government agreed to reopen negotiations at the UK-EU summit last May, and has been seeking to bring down the cost of UK participation.
The UK rejoining the £23bn Erasmus scheme has been a key demand from EU capitals as part of “reset” talks, alongside a mobility deal that would grant young Europeans the right to live and work in the UK for several years and Britons to do the same in Europe.
A quick breakthrough on Erasmus would help ministers signal that they are making progress in their drive to improve relations with the EU after a setback last week, when talks over defence broke down.
The negotiations, which were seeking to allow UK companies to play a greater part in the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) defence loans scheme, collapsed after a dispute over money. The lack of an agreement caps the value of any weapons or parts that UK-based firms will be able to contribute to any given project at 35%.
Keir Starmer told a press conference in London on Monday that “we do need to get closer” to the EU. The UK prime minister said: “It is clear from all of the analysis that the [Brexit] deal that we’ve got has hurt our economy. That’s why we’ve rebuilt relations and reset relations with the EU and I’m proud that we’ve done that. That is why we’re moving forward.”
He said he was “crystal clear” there was no credible economic future for Britain that did not involve open trade. “So for economic renewal, we have to keep reducing frictions. We have to keep moving towards a closer relationship with the EU, and we have to be grown up about that, to accept that this will require trade-offs.”
Pedro Serrano, the EU ambassador to the UK, said: “The EU is also seeking a closer relationship with the UK. In today’s challenging times for Europe, this is what our citizens expect. Europe’s prosperity, security and democracy are closely interlinked. Stronger relations between the EU and the UK will bring a stronger Europe.”
UK officials say talks over a food standards deal, a joint carbon emissions scheme and the youth mobility scheme have been slow to get going in part because it took longer than expected for the EU to agree its mandate for negotiations.
Talks on food standards and carbon emissions began in mid-November – six months later than planned – with Starmer’s foreign policy adviser, Michael Ellam, leading from the UK side. Talks on youth mobility began in September.
UK officials believe agreements in these areas can be reached quickly, and will not be subject to the kind of impediments that scuppered recent talks on a shared defence fund, since they face less resistance from European corporations.
One question on food standards will be whether France demands that the Labour government drops its promise to ban the commercial import of foie gras.
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Another will be whether British negotiators can persuade their European counterparts to take a more lenient approach to genetically modified crops, which are regulated more strictly in the EU than in the UK.
The UK side also wants an exemption from EU rules on mycotoxins, a naturally occurring mould, which occur naturally in British oatcakes in particular, due to the country’s damp climate.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister leading negotiations with Brussels, spoke to his EU counterpart, Maroš Šefčovič, on Sunday evening and is due to meet him in Brussels on 10 December.
A government spokesperson said: “We have made good progress since the UK-EU reset summit, including starting negotiations in the last fortnight on a food and drink deal to slash red tape for businesses and bring down prices.
“At the summit in May, we agreed to work towards association to Erasmus+, ensuring it is on the right terms for the UK. Those talks are ongoing. Throughout this process we’re putting the national interest first, building a closer trading relationship that is good for jobs, bills and borders.”
