Young people in Britain already have opportunities to live, work and study abroad through existing Youth Mobility Schemes. Agreements are in place with 13 countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea, and new schemes with Andorra and Uruguay took effect in January 2024.
The Government remains open to negotiating new arrangements with other countries and territories, including EU Member States.
However, the Government has no plans to introduce an EU-wide youth mobility scheme. The British public voted to leave the EU in 2016. Free movement within the EU therefore ended and there are no plans to re-introduce it. It is right that the Government is open to agreeing schemes with individual EU countries, where it’s in the UK’s interest and supports the skills and opportunities of British young people.
DS