A scheme allowing young Britons to live and work in EU countries will be on the table when Prime Minister Andy Burnham meets EU leaders in Brussels on 20 November, after the European Council confirmed the date of the second UK-EU summit on 12 October.
The "youth experience scheme", which would cover 18 to 30-year-olds, is one of the central pieces of the reset in relations begun at the first summit in London in May 2025. Its progress has been tied to an EU demand that European students pay the same tuition fees as British ones at UK universities, a condition the government has resisted.
The i Paper reported on 16 October that hopes were rising that the obstacles over fees and the terms of the mobility scheme could be resolved before the summit. The Financial Times reported earlier this month that the two sides had agreed the outline of the November meeting, including a youth experience scheme, but had put the fees question back to later talks.
In its announcement, the European Council said leaders would take stock of progress since the London summit "including on their defence and security partnership, energy, agrifood rules, climate, people-to-people contacts, and migration and law enforcement". It said they were expected to issue a joint declaration.
António Costa, the European Council president, who will host the summit alongside Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, said: "The European Union and the United Kingdom are like-minded partners, united by common values and shared interests. Our security and prosperity are closely intertwined, making a strong partnership between us essential. By deepening our cooperation, we can strengthen our ability to address the challenges of our time, strengthen our resilience and promote stability in Europe and beyond."
The dispute over fees has run since the London summit. Brussels wants EU participants charged at the home rate, while the UK has sought a cap on numbers and no change to fee status. The Telegraph reported this month that the government wanted the cap set below 50,000 places, and that Brussels wanted the scheme uncapped.
The Telegraph reported on 2 October, citing European sources, that European negotiators had linked the UK's request for a carve-out treating British companies as European to lower fees for EU students. International fees for EU students at UK universities can exceed £30,000 a year, according to the same report.
The Russell Group of research universities has estimated that charging EU students at domestic rates would cost UK higher education about £580m. The common understanding agreed under Sir Keir Starmer, then prime minister, at the May 2025 summit did not deal with home fees for EU students, according to UK in a Changing Europe.
The Telegraph has reported, citing unnamed sources, that Starmer agreed to the EU's fee demands in the final days of his premiership, and that the position was not signed off by Burnham. The second summit had been scheduled for 22 July but was postponed after Starmer announced his resignation in June.
Burnham told the Labour conference in September that Brexit had "done more harm than good", and said he would set out options for the future relationship around the time of the summit. Reports have likened the proposed scheme to the UK's existing youth mobility arrangements with countries such as Australia and Canada, which allow stays of up to three years.
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