UK & EU Edge Towards Youth Mobility Agreement, Despite Broader Relationship Strains
Brussels/london – December 6, 2025 – Negotiations are progressing, albeit slowly, towards a potential youth mobility scheme between the UK and the European Union that could allow tens of thousands of young Britons to live and work across the EU, sources indicate.The initiative represents a potential thaw in post-Brexit relations, though recent setbacks in other areas highlight the ongoing challenges to closer ties.
the scheme aims to facilitate opportunities for young people to live, work, study, and travel within the EU. A key priority for the EU is ensuring participants commit to residing and working in a single European country throughout their participation, avoiding transient movement between member states, and ensuring benefits are distributed across all 27 EU members.
On the UK side, a central focus is accessibility for young people from working-class backgrounds, with a commitment to avoid prohibitive fees or barriers to entry. This focus reflects strong support within the Labor party, with over 60 Labour MPs publicly endorsing a youth mobility scheme earlier this year.
“There has been a real step change in the language used by the people at the top of government compared with where we were in the frist few months when we got elected,” one Labour MP commented, highlighting a shift in tone from the UK government. “The impetus on our side has got to be that we can move quickly … The route to getting closer to the EU is by demonstrating that,step by step,we can make agreements that are concrete.”
However, progress has been hampered by delays, initially attributed to the european Commission’s difficulty in securing a mandate from EU governments.More recently, the collapse of talks regarding UK participation in the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) defense loans scheme has underscored the difficulties in achieving broader improvements to the UK-EU relationship.Those talks failed due to a dispute over financial contributions.
Experts warn that the EU does not currently view improved relations with the UK as a high priority.Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank, noted, “I think the urgency has totally gone on the EU side, and there’s also a disappointing tendency on the EU side to think in terms of how much cash they can screw out of us.” David Henig, a trade expert, added that Brussels is currently preoccupied with issues relating to the US and China.
Despite these challenges, the UK government remains publicly committed to the scheme. A government spokesperson stated, “We are working together with the EU to create a balanced youth experience scheme which will create new opportunities for young people to live, work, study and travel.” They confirmed any final scheme woudl be time-limited and capped,and declined to provide further comment on ongoing negotiations.
The pursuit of this youth mobility scheme comes amid growing public dissatisfaction with the outcome of Brexit. A YouGov poll in September revealed that 62% of voters believe Brexit has been more of a failure than a success, compared to just 11% who see it as a success.
(This article was amended on 5 December 2025. An earlier version said that there were 28 members of the EU, rather than 27.)
