Launch UK-EU youth experience scheme with initial 44,000 cap, says cross-party commission
A new report by the crossparty UK Trade and Business Commission (UKTBC) is recommending the UK and EU should launch a new time-limited Youth Experience Scheme (YES), capped at 44,000 visas in the first year. This would be the UK’s largest and most generous scheme of its kind and would restore opportunities for young people who have been denied them by the existing Brexit deal.
In a new report, aimed at unlocking the ongoing negotiations, the cross-party commission of MPs and business leaders have put forward 17 recommendations to accelerate progress towards deeper cooperation set out in May’s UK-EU summit.
The report identifies how the UK government can deliver a youth experience scheme with the EU while honouring its manifesto pledge to reduce net migration to the UK. With the UK’s current youth mobility schemes having reduced net migration by more than 44,000 in 2024, the report recommends using this visa “headroom” for the UK and EU to agree a UK-EU YES capped initially at 44,000 visas for each party, meaning the scheme would likely have no or a negligible overall impact on UK net migration. It would also make the UK-EU scheme the largest and most generous of all the UK’s existing youth schemes. They recommend that the cap be reviewed annually.
The UKTBC members combine decades of experience across politics, business, diplomacy, trade and law. Their other key recommendations include: for the scheme to last two years, with an option to extend for one further year.
Additional recommendations include:
The scheme for 18-30-year-olds being a once-in-a-lifetime visa route, not tied to a specific purpose (e.g. employment), and separate from existing student visa pathways,
EU students should continue to pay international tuition fees, due to the financial pressures faced by UK universities,
The UK and EU should also aim to make the YES accessible to young people from all backgrounds, by reducing application fees “to as close to nominal as possible”,
Managing access to healthcare through the mutual recognition of the EU Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and the UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and the UK waiving the health surcharge for EU YES participants.
Recent YouGov polling commissioned by Best for Britain, secretariat to the UKTBC, found that an overwhelming majority (72%) of Brits support a YES - more than five times the number who were opposed.
Campaigners are calling on the government and the EU to work together on making these recommendations a reality, restoring the work, training and life experiences that young people have lost, and making real progress on the wider UK-EU reset.
Andrew Lewin MP, chair of the UK Trade and Business Commission (UKTBC), said:
“In recent weeks the Prime Minister has said he intends to keep moving towards a closer relationship with the EU. I’m delighted by this commitment and successfully agreeing on a Youth Experience deal would be further evidence the relationship is changing for the better.
“Thanks to the expertise of the UKTBC members, we have a proposal for a bespoke and balanced scheme, which would be good for growth, deepen cultural connections with our allies in the EU and renew opportunities for young people that were taken away by the failed Brexit deal.”
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain, said:
"Young people across Britain and the EU have been deprived for far too long of the irreplaceable chance to live, work and travel abroad - opportunities that enrich their futures while strengthening our economies and societies. This report shows there is a sensible way to progress the scheme, requiring minimal compromises on each side of the negotiating table.
“Our polling shows the public overwhelmingly supports this practical policy, which won’t affect overall net migration, and can open the door to wider cooperation and vital trade agreements on energy and agri-food, helping to cut bills and bring down prices at the tills."
Tom Brufatto, Executive Director of Policy at Best for Britain and lead author of the report, said:
“This report identifies the headroom within current net migration flows to enable UK ministers and the EU commission to deliver on the political promise of a YES while honouring its commitments on net migration, and restoring invaluable economic benefits to both parties.
“The UKTBC was first to recommend a youth mobility scheme in 2023, recognising that it signified a new and improved era of partnership in UK-EU relations, and campaigned long and hard to ensure it was on the table at May’s summit. It’s now time for this new chapter to begin.”
Speaking at a UKTBC evidence session in October, Professor Brian Bell, Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and Professor of Economics, King’s Business School, said:
“Suppose we had a scheme that was capped, and it was capped at, say, 50,000 people a year. [...] So, if we had 50,000, could I imagine 50,000 Brits going to Europe every year? Yeah, absolutely. I think that would be a reasonable thing to assume.”
At the same session, he added: “So, if it's a balanced scheme, my guess is the overall effect on net migration is essentially zero, essentially all the time, and so it's not worth worrying about.“
