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Date Published: 29/07/2024

Starmer said to be considering youth mobility deal with Spain

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Such an agreement would let young Brits study and work in Spain for up to 2 years, as they currently can in Australia and other countries

Starmer said to be considering youth mobility deal with Spain

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apparantly said he will “consider” the proposal for a youth mobility agreement between Spain and the UK put forward by Pedro Sánchez at their bilateral meeting on July 18 during the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

Starmer’s supposed openness to such an agreement contrasts his position last April, when he was still in the opposition, after the European Commission proposed a mobility agreement for young people aged 18 to 30 between the EU and the UK. That deal was also rejected by the Sunak government.

Sánchez and Starmer only met for about 15 minutes, but in that time they both also expressed their hopes for a final agreement on Gibraltar after Brexit.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Sánchez also used the occasion to raise the issue of the youth mobility agreement, a long-standing proposal on which talks were also held with the Conservative government.

The UK has youth mobility agreements with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and South Korea, while Uruguay and Andorra have just joined the list this year.

These youth mobility schemes mean that young people in Britain between the ages of 18 and 30 can live, study and work on special visas for up to two years in these countries, and vice versa.

If such a deal were reached with Spain or the EU as a whole, it would open up many more possibilities for young people in these countries to travel and learn abroad.

While Starmer has firmly ruled out anything approaching a ‘Rejoin’ for the UK, nor even a single market or customs union, his willingness to ‘consider’ a youth mobility agreement at least shows some concession towards Britain’s position as a part of Europe, if not the European Union.

Labour's election manifesto also rejects the idea of a return to freedom of movement. Several EU countries have nevertheless sought a rapprochement on the issue of youth mobility through bilateral agreements.

The German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, has also hinted that there is “progress on issues of common interest such as youth mobility,” although absolute freedom of movement between the UK and any EU country is unlikely to be on the table.

Image: Pedro Sánchez / Twitter

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