Row over university fees shows UK’s ‘reset’ with EU may not be so simple | Brexit
This week is “Brexit reset” week for the British government; ministers are embarking on a series of activities aimed at underscoring the country’s determination to forge closer ties with Brussels 10 years after it first voted to leave the EU.
On Monday, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet minister responsible for negotiating the government’s reset with the EU, will arrive in Brussels for a meeting of the EU-UK joint parliamentary partnership. He is traveling with the mob, including Europe minister Stephen Doughty and trade minister Chris Bryant.
A day later, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her second Mais lecture to the financial sector. he will argue Closer alignment with the EU forms a central part of the government’s growth agenda.
But as ministers put the finishing touches to their pro-European message, a new row is brewing over Brussels’ demand to cut university tuition fees for European students.
“We are still having very regular talks but there is a lack of progress on this issue,” said a source involved in the talks.
Anand Menon, director of the UK think tank Changing Europe, said: [university] “The fees not only suggest that the EU will play hardball in these negotiations and insist on getting its way, but also that the whole reset is probably more fragile than the government thinks.”
The dispute centers on whether European university students should be charged domestic fees, which amount to around £9,500 a year, or international fees, which can reach over £60,000.
Brussels believes that simply reducing the wages of participants in the proposed youth mobility scheme is not enough. European Commission wants lower fees for all EU students; this will cost British universities an estimated £140 million a year.
Some in the industry welcome the proposal.
“This will allow universities to base their admissions solely on merit rather than financial contribution, and possibly spend more time serving regional and national demand,” said Mark Corver, analyst and director of Campus Numerics.
However, the university sector and the British government are determined that the plan should not be implemented. UK authorities describe it as a “non-starter”.
It’s not just the youth mobility plan that’s at risk: the entire reset of its three main plans, which are expected to be completed by this summer, depends on the outcome of the dispute.
While London is keen to sign agreements on both food, agriculture and emissions trading, Brussels is more focused on youth mobility and has the capacity to pursue the other two deals if an agreement is not reached at this point.
Those close to the talks, some of which trace back nearly a decade of post-Brexit negotiations, insist the deal can still be done.
They say relations between Thomas-Symonds and her counterpart Maroš Šefčovič, and between Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, are closer and more trusting than those of most of her predecessors.
Thomas-Symonds will hold talks with both Šefčovič and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola this week as both sides try to break the logjam.
But even before those talks take place, there are signs that both sides are willing to compromise.
The Treasury and the Ministry of National Education are working on financial analyzes on how much the cost would be if such a proposal were accepted. Government sources say they’ll want something “really big” in return.
Meanwhile, it appears that Brussels does not see this as a “bilateral” issue and is willing to accept a reduction in wages, if not full equalization with domestic wages.
“This is part of the normal course of business; many of these thorny issues are being postponed until the final stages of talks,” said one person familiar with the matter. “Inevitably, then there will be an act of God and everything will be okay.”
