The UK-EU reset deal is very promising for UK ELT, but we will need to continue campaigning – with members' help – to achieve everything we want.  

English UK's response to the UK-EU deal

Our chief executive Jodie Gray said:  "We welcome the first moves towards a youth mobility deal with the EU but there is further to go. 

"English UK has long campaigned for a YMS with the EU. We recognise the enormous benefits for young people across the UK and the EU, inbound tourism and UK exports. We will continue to call for a deal that allows for as many people as possible to participate and that is implemented quickly. 

"Launching our new policy position paper less than a week ago, we called on the government to create exchange programmes for young professionals. The suggestion that the UK might again be part of the Erasmus+ programme was more than we had dared hope for. While we are happy to hear this news, it is far from clear what the UK's association with Erasmus+ will look like.  We will push for this to be as broad as possible in the interests of our industry, the economy and our young people.'

What do we need English UK members to do now? 

Last week, we launched our new policy position paper in Parliament, including six recommendations for the government connected with the EU. One of these was to 'expand career-enhancing travel opportunities for young people via YMS', and the other was to 'create exchange programmes for young professionals'.

We urge members to contact their MPs about the position paper recommendations. We suggest concentrating on the proposed youth experience scheme outlined in the EU-UK Summit Common Understanding agreement.  

We suggest members ask their MPs to write to...
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations), and
Seema Malhotra (Minister for Migration and Citizenship),
...to make the point that the proposed youth experience scheme will be invaluable in allowing young people from the EU to work and study here, and allow similar opportunities for young people in the UK. This would be popular with the British public - a recent YouGov poll for The Times, for example, showed that over 70% support a youth mobility scheme with the EU, with just 17% opposed. 

We also request that members encourage their MP to ask these questions of the Ministers in their letters:  

• Can the Minister confirm any timelines for further negotiation and implementation of this scheme, and keep me updated once these are known? 

• We would like to see a scheme that allows as many young people as possible to benefit; many other countries have youth mobility schemes without pre-determined numbers. Can the Minister give us an assurance that this will be seriously considered in the upcoming negotiations? 

When writing to your MP, remember to give your postcode so that they are obliged to respond to you as a constituent of theirs, and please let Huan or Naadiya know of any response that you get.