Brussels and London have entered the end-game of negotiations over a post-Brexit Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) that would give 18- to 32-year-olds the right to live, work and travel in each other’s territory without the need for a full work visa. According to draft texts seen by the Financial Times and The Times, the European Commission wants the programme to be open-ended and uncapped, allowing any qualifying young person from the EU-27 to obtain a three-year permit.
The UK side – led by the Home Office and the Department for Business & Trade – insists numbers must be limited in line with existing bilateral schemes with Australia, New Zealand and Canada (currently capped at 35,000 combined places a year). Treasury officials, however, are said to favour a larger, less restricted model to boost labour supply and tax receipts, setting up an internal cabinet split.
![EU pushes UK to accept uncapped Youth Mobility Scheme as talks intensify]()
A second flash-point is tuition fees. Brussels wants EU students covered by the YMS to pay the same “home” fees as domestic undergraduates and to be exempt from the NHS immigration health surcharge. Vice-chancellors warn the demand would blow a £3 billion hole in university finances that have become reliant on higher non-EU fees since Brexit. The UK proposal is for a two-year pilot with a numerical cap and no fee concessions, combined with re-entry to the Erasmus+ exchange scheme.
Officials hope to conclude the political agreement by the first half of 2026 so that applications can open in 2027. Business lobby groups, particularly in hospitality, tech and the creative industries, have lobbied hard for the deal, arguing that the loss of easy EU-UK youth mobility has damaged staffing pipelines and cultural links. Trade unions, by contrast, warn that an uncapped scheme could depress wages for entry-level roles unless robust labour standards are enforced.
If finalised, the YMS would be the most significant liberalisation of UK–EU movement since the end of free movement in January 2021. Companies that rely on seasonal or graduate talent should start reviewing sponsorship policies, accommodation plans and payroll systems for short-term hires. Equally, HR teams will need to track maximum stay periods, ensure participants have correct National Insurance registrations, and prepare for complex right-to-work checks while the UK’s eVisa system continues to bed in.
The UK side – led by the Home Office and the Department for Business & Trade – insists numbers must be limited in line with existing bilateral schemes with Australia, New Zealand and Canada (currently capped at 35,000 combined places a year). Treasury officials, however, are said to favour a larger, less restricted model to boost labour supply and tax receipts, setting up an internal cabinet split.
A second flash-point is tuition fees. Brussels wants EU students covered by the YMS to pay the same “home” fees as domestic undergraduates and to be exempt from the NHS immigration health surcharge. Vice-chancellors warn the demand would blow a £3 billion hole in university finances that have become reliant on higher non-EU fees since Brexit. The UK proposal is for a two-year pilot with a numerical cap and no fee concessions, combined with re-entry to the Erasmus+ exchange scheme.
Officials hope to conclude the political agreement by the first half of 2026 so that applications can open in 2027. Business lobby groups, particularly in hospitality, tech and the creative industries, have lobbied hard for the deal, arguing that the loss of easy EU-UK youth mobility has damaged staffing pipelines and cultural links. Trade unions, by contrast, warn that an uncapped scheme could depress wages for entry-level roles unless robust labour standards are enforced.
If finalised, the YMS would be the most significant liberalisation of UK–EU movement since the end of free movement in January 2021. Companies that rely on seasonal or graduate talent should start reviewing sponsorship policies, accommodation plans and payroll systems for short-term hires. Equally, HR teams will need to track maximum stay periods, ensure participants have correct National Insurance registrations, and prepare for complex right-to-work checks while the UK’s eVisa system continues to bed in.
