The idea of the UK returning to a program as symbolic of the European Union as Erasmus, the popular exchange of university students, has long exposed the battleground of British politics. Eurosceptics denounced the “betrayal” of the measure and Labor remained on the defensive. This time, when Keir Starmer’s government confirmed the deal with Brussels to return to the academic system, the reaction from the Conservative Party and Nigel Farage’s ultra-derecha was lukewarm and limited. Both are aware that the youth movement, even if it is limited to the educational field for the moment, is extremely popular among citizens, including among those who will vote in favor of Brexit.
“Joining Erasmus is a big victory for young people, breaking down barriers and broadening horizons. It ensures that everyone, regardless of their economic or social background, has the opportunity to study and undertake internships abroad,” said Nick Thomas-Symond, British Secretary of State for the European Union and a friend to whom Starmer entrusted the task of restoring lost relations with Europe after a few years under the Conservative mandate.
“It’s much more than travel. It’s about acquiring future skills, academic success and access for the next generation to the best possible opportunities,” he defended.
Lack of details
The Labor government has confirmed that re-entry into the Erasmus program will mean that London will have to pay Brussels around €650 million in 2027, so that students can follow the 2027/2028 academic course.
According to government sources, the application involves a 30% reduction from the initial requirements. When Conservative governments withdrew from the program, one of the arguments put forward was that its cost was very high in relation to the benefits obtained, depending on the decade.
The agreement does not only extend to university students. It would encompass, according to certain details that began with knowledge, all those who wished to deepen their studies, carry out work internships or even voluntary tasks.
Currently, any student at an English public university must pay annual tuition fees of around 10,850 euros. The government loan program finances this cost, which students must repay once they enter the job market and obtain a minimum wage, in addition to benefiting from good employment conditions.
An international student who wants to study at one of these UK institutions must now pay at least triple this amount.
Thanks to the agreement reached between London and Brussels, British universities wishing to study on the continent will be able to continue paying their annual tuition fees in the center where they study. In the case of community members who wish to travel to the United Kingdom, their registration will be at the same price as that paid by British students (10,850 euros).
The price is very high for European students. This partly explains why many of them, during the years when the UK participated in Erasmus, chose universities like those in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Scotland, unlike England, has a system of liberty very similar to that of the continent. Its academic institutions are prestigious, the cost of living is cheaper than in London or Oxford and it offers education in English, the most attractive factor for aspiring travelers.
During the 2018/2019 academic course, the last in which the UK participated in Erasmus before Brexit, some 18,300 UK students traveled to the continent, compared to 30,000 EU students who traveled to the island.
This is the argument put forward by Conservative governments, which meant a lost grandson for the UK. However, advocates of the program – employing their own universities – have always defended the economy of scale generating exchanges, academic benefits, social benefits and personal relationships lost with the abandonment of the program.
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson promoted an alternative exchange program called the Turing Scheme, in honor of the scientist who cracked the Enigma code that the Germans used for their transmissions during World War II. With an assumption of around 130 million per year, the program has never enjoyed popularity or success in terms of the number of students completing Erasmus.
Keir Starmer has proposed a phased approach to the EU that repairs the damage caused by Brexit, without providing for the club’s reintegration, entry into its common customs area or recovery of the free movement of people. All these measures have resurrected the political war in which the United Kingdom was plunged during the second half of the last decade.
But London signed a bilateral treaty with Brussels that was celebrated by both sides as restarting relations and which promised, among other things, a new youth mobility program that has not yet been implemented. The first step, one of the most desired by a whole generation of students, arrived with reintegration into Erasmus.
About The Author
