Starmer
appears to leave door open for potential EU youth exchange scheme
PM does not
rule out setting up system in future after meeting with Olaf Scholz, who
stressed desire for closer ties
Peter Walker
in Berlin
Wed 28 Aug
2024 13.57 BST
Keir Starmer
has held the door open for some form of youth mobility exchange with EU
countries after talks in Germany with Olaf Scholz, who stressed to the British
prime minister his wish for closer such ties.
While
Starmer said at a press conference with the German chancellor that the UK did
not have plans to join the EU’s youth mobility scheme – with No 10 having
previously ruled out such a move – speaking to reporters later, he pointedly
did not rule out setting up some sort of system for other link-ups, for example
student exchanges.
Starmer said
after the press conference that nothing of this sort had been discussed during
his long bilateral meeting with Scholz at the federal chancellery in Berlin, as
the focus was on bilateral ties rather than wider European links.
But he
added: “We want a close relationship, of course, and I do think that can extend
across defence, security, education and cultural exchange and, of course,
trade.”
Asked to
explicitly rule out any sort of youth mobility scheme, under which young people
from within the EU could live, work and study for a limited period in the UK,
with reciprocal rights for young Britons, Starmer did not, pointing to the
UK-Germany treaty he and Scholz had discussed.
He said
simply that any future talks with the EU over an improved post-Brexit deal
would be based on red lines including no return to the free movement of people.
Free movement is not the same as time-limited exchanges.
“Look, the
treaty is a bilateral treaty, so that’s got nothing to do with youth mobility
or anything like that. That’s to do with trade, defence, economy, illegal
migration etc,” he said. “In relation to youth mobility, obviously, we’ve been
really clear – no single market, no customs union, no free movement, no going
back into the EU. So the discussion about a close relationship within the EU or
with the EU is in that context and within those frameworks.
“I’m
convinced that we can have a close relationship, and I think you heard from the
chancellor himself, notwithstanding those clear red lines that we’ve got and
we’ve always had.”
In his
opening remarks at the press conference, Scholz said he was “happy about the
announcement by Keir Starmer to seek a reset in the relations to the European
Union. We want to take this hand which is reached out to us.”
The German
leader said he had been worried that “the contacts between our societies,
between Germans and people in the UK, have declined massively after Brexit and
the Covid-19 pandemic”.
He added:
“We want to change that, because if you know each other well, you understand
each other better. We share similar views on this, and this is why we want to
intensify the exchanges between Germany and the UK.”
Germany and
other EU nations are believed to be keen for some type of youth mobility system
to be established as part of a wider deal on post-Brexit relations, and while
Labour had ruled this out, the UK would be expected to make some concessions as
part of the negotiations.
Asked about
the wider talks, Starmer pointed to a series of meetings with European leaders,
adding: “I’m not going to set a timetable, or details out, but clearly,
establishing a reset is a very important first step down that road.”
After the
talks on Wednesday morning, the two governments sent out what was termed a
“joint declaration on deepening and enhancing UK-Germany relations”, a
precursor to a promised formal deal based on areas including defence and
migration, which is scheduled to be agreed in the next six months.
This deal,
the declaration said, “will reflect our status as the closest of partners in
Europe, with the strongest possible bilateral cooperation on the issues that
matter most to our populations”.
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