Back to the EU?

This week, the UK and EU have agreed a Reset Deal to improve the current post-Brexit trade and corporation agreement between the two. But has anything been agreed that will make it easier for Brits to live and work in the EU again?

The new deal includes agreements on agriculture, trade, defence, fishing and energy, which, while not as significant as rejoining the Customs Union or the Single Market would have been, will add a small percentage of the growth the UK lost due to Brexit. The alignment with the EU on agriculture and energy, cutting red tape for business, allowing the defence industry access to a EUR 150 billion EU defence fund, and a better deal for the fishing industry are projected to have a positive effect on trade and jobs, and lead to the reduction of prices for UK consumers.

Both parties have promised to work on a youth experience scheme (the word ‘mobility’ has been quietly dropped by the UK side). The details of this will need to be hammered out later. It will apply to people aged 18 to 25 (or 30) and allow ‘various activities, such as work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering, or simply travelling, for a limited period of time’ for a certain number of people. It is not known yet what that time period will be (it could be 1 or 2 years) and where numbers will be capped.

The UK also intends to re-join the Erasmus+ scheme, a departure from the government’s opposite view last summer. Again, there are no details yet on when this will happen, but this is positive for a wide variety of young British people as Erasmus doesn’t just cover university studies but also other training programmes.

There will be more talks on business visitors with regards to ‘entry and temporary stay’, ‘…including the sponsorship scheme, and recognition of professional qualifications’. This is still very vague but could become of interest to lawyers, accountants, architects etc., whose UK qualifications were recognised under EU law and who could therefore practise in other EU countries without gaining a country-specific qualification.

Unfortunately, there is nothing concrete for one specific group of these business visitors, the UK’s touring artists. The UK and Commission will ‘continue their efforts to support travel and cultural exchange’ is all the agreement states. This is an unfortunate oversight given the UK music industry is worth £7.6 billion. Artists continue to be hampered by the extra costs and bureaucracy they face when moving their instruments and equipment around EU countries, work in the EU and sell merchandise.

Still, you’ll be pleased to hear that it’ll be easier to get in and out of the EU. At the moment, Brits have to have their passports stamped on entry and exit, however, once the new EU entry system EES becomes operational (currently expected to be in October 2025) Brits will be able to use the e-gates ‘where appropriate’ so possibly only at some airports. The EU ETIAS scheme is expected to follow in late 2026.

In summary, this new agreement is making useful first steps towards repairing the damage Brexit did to trade. There are also promises to negotiate further on ways to allow individuals to study and work in the EU again, however, the latter are still very vague and we will have to wait for further details to emerge.

If you want to have a look at the agreement yourself, this is it: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_1267