UK to be pressured into allowing freedom of movement for under-30s, says top diplomat
The UK will be pressured next year to allow under-30s from the European Union to live and work in the UK as part of a deal to reset the UK/EU relationship.
European Union president Ursula von der Leyen will use a summit with Sir Keir Starmer in the new year to press the UK to allow freedom of movement for the under-30s, according to a senior EU diplomat.
The UK re-entering the Erasmus student exchange scheme will also be on the agenda, Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, told Chopper’s Political Podcast.
No10 made clear on Thursday that the UK will not be reentering the single market or the customs union.
However, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government had “no plans” to agree to freedom of movement for Britons and EU nationals who are under 30 years old as part of its reset with the EU.
Berger said the issue will be on the EU’s agenda for a key summit meeting between Starmer and von der Leyen in the new year.
Asked by Political Editor Christopher Hope if freedom of movement for the under-30s will be on the meeting’s agenda, Berger said: “There will be many things on the agenda.
“The security pact which is proposed by the British Government – so cooperation on a wide area of topics respecting obviously the red lines.”
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Asked if the agenda included allowing under-30s to travel freely to and from the EU, Berger replied: “It will be included.”
Berger said that the meeting with Von der Leyen will be the start of “talking about the whole reset” as the new European Union has only just been set up after June’s European parliament elections.
He added: “So far it could not be done. Why? Because the European Commission was not up and working. It was just confirmed some days ago. And so in spring, we are going to start these talks.”
Berger added that the question of whether the UK can re-enter the Erasmus student exchange programme will also be on the agenda.
He added: “And also the question of Erasmus programme – where the United Kingdom in the last minute opted out of it so all of these things will be again on the table.”
Starmer is already set to meet with all 27 EU leaders to discuss defence cooperation at an informal meeting on Feb 3.
The UK and Germany signed an agreement this week to work together to tackle illegal migration.
Berger said: “We all are against irregular migration. But if we compare the figures, you have 30,000, 35,000 [a year]. These are the figures we got in one month for countries like France.
“We are tackling much, much bigger problems. So we have now 1.2 million Ukrainians. We have more than a million from Syria who are now looking at the situation in their home country.
“So if we add everything up in Germany, we have 3.5 million refugees. That’s the total number. But the majority arrived in the last ten years. So it’s quite a big number.”