Row over tuition fees cut for European students threatens Starmer’s EU reset | Brexit

Britain is at loggerheads with Brussels over demands to lower university tuition fees for European students; This situation threatens to undermine Keir Starmer’s planned re-entry into the EU.

EU officials say European students must pay “home” fees of around £9,500 a year, instead of the higher international rate that could reach more than £60,000, as part of negotiations over a youth mobility scheme.

But British negotiators say they were surprised by the demand, which was not specified in the framework agreement signed last year and will cost British universities around £140 million a year.

Sources say the dispute has brought negotiations to a near standstill, with just three months until the summit in Brussels in late June or early July.

The Prime Minister plans to use the summit to announce a series of deals on trade and travel designed to support his argument that closer ties with the EU are needed to boost Britain’s economic growth.

One of them said: “It is true that the talks have stalled and this is now the main issue on which both sides cannot agree.”

A British government spokesman said: “There is no final [youth mobility] “The program should be time-limited, capped and build on our existing youth mobility programs which do not include access to home tuition fee status.”

A British source described the idea of ​​tuition fee cuts as a “non-starter”.

While the European Commission did not comment on the talks, a spokesman said: “The UK and EU have underlined and reaffirmed their commitment to implement the outcomes of the May 2025 summit in a timely manner. We will work together on our ongoing discussions in areas of common interest.”

Starmer started talks on a number of issues last year. ministers said It was a “historic” agreement to improve the terms of the Brexit deal, 10 years after Britain first voted to leave the EU.

The Prime Minister has put closer EU relations at the center of his economic plan; Chancellor Rachel Reeves will further highlight this at a conference announcing the government’s growth strategy on Tuesday.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet minister responsible for negotiations, will be in Brussels on Monday to underline the government’s position ahead of a joint meeting of members of the British and European parliaments.

But reaching an agreement is proving difficult in the negotiating room, with officials working on three potential agreements: one covering trade in food and agricultural products; one covers carbon emissions; and expanding visa freedoms for young people.

Sources with knowledge of the talks say the agricultural trade deal is close to completion after European officials agreed the UK could maintain higher animal welfare standards as part of any deal.

Discussions are also thought to be well advanced on a carbon emissions deal that would link UK and EU carbon emissions trading schemes and remove Britain from having to pay a cross-border carbon tax. But the youth mobility plan, which ministers have rebranded as a youth experience scheme to allay fears of higher immigration levels, is hitting a major snag.

EU leaders have instructed Brussels officials to negotiate lower fees for all European students in exchange for Britain agreeing to their demands that the program be capped at two years and the number of students be less than 100,000 a year. The mandate was handed over by the European Council earlier this year as part of the formal negotiating mandate given to the European Commission, which is conducting the talks.

Sources in Brussels say the proportion of European students in the UK has fallen from 27 per cent to 5 per cent since Brexit, and they argue that the European middle class is underpaid for British university education.

However, UK officials say that although last year’s agreement clearly stated a ceiling and time limit, there was no reduction in wages. If the government accepts Brussels’ demand, they say, it would require a “really big” concession in return, beyond the terms the government had previously put forward.

UK authorities are keen to make the scheme more flexible than the EU proposes, for example by allowing participants to switch between work, study or simply travel as they wish.

University finance analyst and Campus Numerics director Mark Corver said setting fees for EU students at the same level as British students would cost the industry £140 million in the first year of a typical course and £400 million over a three-year period.

Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of International Universities UK, said: “We fully support the Government’s position on house fee status. This would carry significant cost and risks undermining the financial sustainability of universities, which would not be in the interests of the UK, the EU or potential students.”