Britain is hoping to secure a deal within weeks to rejoin the EU’s flagship student mobility programme, as part of a drive to pursue closer ties with Brussels after a setback in the defense sector.
Negotiators are aiming to finalize a deal by January, according to two UK and EU officials, which would allow the UK to participate in Erasmus from 2027.
Britain left Erasmus after Brexit, after Boris Johnson claimed the program did not provide good value for money. The Labor government agreed to restart negotiations at the UK-EU summit last May, and is seeking to reduce the costs of the UK’s participation.
Britain’s rejoining the £23 billion Erasmus scheme has been a key demand from EU capitals as part of “reset” talks, along with a mobility agreement that would give young Europeans the right to live and work in the UK for several years and give Britons the right to do the same in Europe.
A quick breakthrough on Erasmus would help ministers signal they are making progress in their drive to improve ties with the EU after a setback last week when talks on defense broke down.
Talks, which sought to allow UK companies to play a bigger role in the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) defense loan scheme, collapsed after a dispute over money. The lack of an agreement limits the value of any weapons or parts that UK-based companies will be able to contribute to any project to 35%.
Keir Starmer said at a press conference in London on Monday that we need to move closer to the European Union. The British Prime Minister said: “It’s clear from all the analysis that the (Brexit) deal we made has damaged our economy. That’s why we’ve rebuilt relationships and reestablished relationships with the EU and I’m proud we’ve done that. That’s why we’re moving forward.”
He said he was absolutely clear that there was no credible economic future for Britain that did not include open trade. “So for economic renewal, we have to keep reducing differences. We have to keep moving toward a closer relationship with the EU, and we have to be big about this, to accept that it will require trade-offs.”
EU Ambassador to the UK Pedro Serrano said, “The EU also wants 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 linked. A stronger relationship between the EU and the UK will deliver a stronger Europe.”
British officials say talks on a food standards agreement, a joint carbon emissions plan and a youth mobility scheme have been slow as it took longer than expected for the EU to agree on its mandate for the talks.
Negotiations on food standards and carbon emissions began in mid-November – six months later than planned – with Starmer’s foreign policy adviser, Michael Elam, leading the UK side. Negotiations on youth mobility began in September.
UK officials believe agreements in these areas can be reached quickly, and will not be subject to the same obstacles that recently hampered negotiations on a shared defense fund, because they face less resistance from European corporations.
One question on food standards will be whether France demands that the Labor government abandon its promise to ban commercial imports of foie gras.
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The second will be whether British negotiators can convince their European counterparts to adopt a more liberal approach to genetically modified crops, which are more strictly regulated in the EU than in Britain.
The UK side also wants an exemption from EU rules on mycotoxins, a naturally occurring fungus that occurs naturally in British oatcakes, especially due to the country’s moist climate.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is leading talks with Brussels, spoke to his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic on Sunday evening and is due to meet him in Brussels on December 10.
A government spokesperson said: “We have made good progress since the UK-EU reset summit, including starting negotiations last fortnight on a food and drink deal to reduce red tape and drive down prices for businesses.
“At the summit in May, we agreed to work towards engagement with Erasmus+, making sure it is on the right terms for the UK. Those negotiations are ongoing. Throughout this process we are putting the national interest first, building a closer trading relationship that is good for jobs, bills and borders.”
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