German ambassador: UK should accept youth mobility as it is not free movement by the 'back door'

The German ambassador says an agreement which gives young people from the European Union the right to live, work or study in the UK will be a "key objective" in negotiations aimed at improving the way Brexit works.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to "tear down" trade barriers with the EU in an attempt to revive economic growth and improve living standards in the UK.

In return, Miguel Berger says Germany will be seeking an arrangement that restores some residency rights for young people across the EU.

"Let’s be honest, those who have lost the most as a result of Brexit are young people, and we want to ease this for them.

"We want to give them the possibility to experience Europe, to live in another country, to work in another country," Berger said.

The right of citizens to move freely between the UK and the EU came to an end on December 31, 2020.

The UK simultaneously opted to withdraw from the Erasmus scheme, an EU programme which gave university students, teaching and college staff, apprentices and youth workers the opportunity to study in any country in the EU.

Before Brexit, around 17,000 UK students a year participated in Erasmus, while approximately 32,000 EU nationals came to study in the UK.

"We have lost 60% of European students in youth and schools exchanges [with the UK]," the German ambassador says. "What we would like to have is a situation for British citizens to come and have easier possibilities to live and work in the European Union and vice versa."

In April, the European Commission published a proposal for a youth mobility scheme which would give all 18-30 year olds the right to stay in the EU or the UK, for work or study, for up to four years.

At the time, the UK rejected these proposals.

In October, when asked about the plan, Starmer said only that "free movement is a red line."

The prime minister is inevitably concerned about signing up to an agreement that could be perceived as an invitation for more people to come and settle in here at a time when net migration has hit a record high.

But if he is to secure the "reset" with the EU he says he is seeking, he will have to negotiate a version of youth mobility he can accept.

"It is not freedom of movement through the back door"

"Youth mobility schemes exist [between the United Kingdom] and many Commonwealth countries and nobody talks about it. It is not migration, it has nothing to do with migration. It is not freedom of movement through the back door," Berger insists.

"It simply means that young people between the ages of 18 and 30 can come and work and live and study for [up to four] years, and then they are expected to go back to their countries of origin."

Berger estimates that between 2,000 and 3,000 people from Germany would take advantage of such an opportunity and insists the numbers from other EU countries would be "very limited."

He dismisses the idea that a youth mobility scheme would lead to an influx of people from less prosperous parts of the EU on the grounds that economic growth in countries like Romania and Poland is now much higher than in the UK.

"Things have changed dramatically," Berger says. "Poland is a very attractive place to live".

"There are no benefits to Brexit"

From a veterinary agreement to reduce border checks and bring down food prices to the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, the government has given us an outline of wants to a "reset" with the EU but it has not yet said what it is prepared to give in return.

If negotiations are to succeed then common ground on a mobility scheme for young people will have to be found.

Quotas on the number of arrivals, shorter limits on the length of stay, and restrictions on employment are all ways of addressing concerns.

The ambassador says Germany supports the British desire for a post-Brexit "reset" and is likely to, whichever parties form the government after the general election next year.

"You can't have the cake and eat it" when it comes to access to the single market

There will be a UK-EU summit in the Spring.

Berger says there are many potential obstacles - on access to fishing waters and cooperation on defence and foreign policy - but it is possible that a deal could be concluded by the end of 2025.

He agrees that a veterinary agreement "can help to reduce prices in the supermarkets" and would boost trade but he warns the economic gains of the relationship the UK is seeking are likely to be small.

"The red lines defined by the British government don’t allow for fundamental change," Berger points out.

In his view, rejoining the Customs Union, while remaining outside the EU, would be a more meaningful way of undoing the economic harm Brexit has caused.

But this is a "reset" Keir Starmer has ruled out.

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