There was a time not too long ago when the idea of the United Kingdom returning to such a symbolic European Union program as Erasmus, the popular university student exchange, . Eurosceptics would have denounced the ‘betrayal’ of the measure and Labor would have retreated on the defensive. This Wednesday, when , the reaction of the Conservative Party or Nigel Farage’s extreme right has been lukewarm and limited. Both are aware that youth mobility, although limited for the moment to the educational field, is extremely popular among citizens, even among those who voted in favor of Brexit.
“Joining Erasmus is a great victory for young people, breaking barriers and broadening horizons. It ensures that everyone, regardless of their economic or social background, has the opportunity to study and do internships abroad”, and the friend to whom Starmer entrusted the task of recovering lost relations with Europe after the bitter years under conservative rule.
“This is more than just traveling. It is about acquiring future skills, academic success and the next generation’s access to the best possible opportunities,” he defended.
The leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, had the opportunity this Wednesday to confront Starmer on this matter, during the weekly control session. He has decided to ignore the issue, and leave it in the hands of his Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Priti Patel, who denounced “a new betrayal of Brexit” and a new attempt by the Labor Government “to drag the United Kingdom back under the control of Brussels.” He did it in X, and his words went unnoticed in the current situation of a day focused on other matters.
Lack of details
The Labor Government has confirmed that rejoining the Erasmus program will mean that London will have to pay Brussels around €650 million in 2027, so that students can join the 2027/2028 academic year.
According to government sources, the amount represents a 30% discount compared to the initial requirement. When the conservative governments left the program, one of the arguments used was that its cost was too high for the benefits that, they said, were obtained.
The agreement does not only extend to university students. It would cover, according to some of the details that have begun to become known, all those who would like to expand their studies, carry out work practices or even volunteer work.
Currently, any student at an English public university must pay an annual tuition of approximately 10,850 euros. The Government’s loan program finances this cost, which students only have to repay once they enter the labor market and achieve a minimum salary amount, in addition to enjoying good interest conditions.
A foreign student who wants to study at one of these British institutions must now pay at least triple that amount.
With the agreement reached between London and Brussels, British university students who want to study on the continent must continue paying their annual tuition at the center where they study. In the case of EU students who want to travel to the United Kingdom, their registration fee will be the same price that British students pay (10,850 euros).
The price is very high for European students. This partly explains why a large number of them, during the years when the United Kingdom participated in Erasmus, chose universities such as Glasgow or Edinburgh. Scotland, unlike England, has a free system very similar to that of the continent. Their academic institutions are prestigious, the cost of living is cheaper than in London or Oxford, and they offer an education in English, the most attractive factor for aspiring travelers.
During the 2018/2019 academic year, the last in which the United Kingdom participated in Erasmus before Brexit, some 18,300 British students traveled to the continent, compared to 30,000 European students who traveled to the island.
That was the argument put forward by Conservative governments, which point to a net loss for the United Kingdom. However, defenders of the scheme – starting with the universities themselves – have always defended the economy of scale that these exchanges generated, and the academic, social and personal relationship benefits that were lost with the abandonment of the program.
The then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, promoted an alternative exchange program called the Turing Scheme, in tribute to the scientist who deciphered the Enigma code that the Germans used for their transmissions in World War II. With a budget of almost 130 million annually, the program never achieved the popularity or success in terms of number of students that Erasmus had had.
Keir Starmer has proposed a gradual approach to the EU that will repair the damage caused by Brexit, without considering rejoining the club, entering its common customs area or recovering the freedom of movement of people. All of these steps would resurrect the political war in which the United Kingdom was immersed during the second half of the last decade.
But London has signed a bilateral treaty with Brussels that has been celebrated by both parties as the restart of relations, and which promised, among other things, a new youth mobility scheme yet to be finalized. The first step, one of the most desired by an entire generation of students, has come with rejoining Erasmus.
