Interesting news in the last 6 days on Youth mobility and Erasmus. The BBC has reported that Rachel Reeves has joined EU negotiators in pressing for progress on the UK/EU Youth Mobility Scheme, seemingly pushing back against Starmer’s hesitation on this. She argues that the Scheme would be good for the UK economy. Clearly there’s an urgent need for something to be good for the economy, so maybe here it is. I guess it could go some way to easing labour shortages in certain sectors, such as hospitality. Is that the gift that she sees on offer? If so, she needs to persuade certain of her colleagues, notably Starmer. Good luck!
Meanwhile the IPaper reports that the EU is also pressing for progress on UK re-entry into the Erasmus scheme (student exchange between the UK and the EU). Johnson pulled the UK out in 2020 because its expensive. And it would cost. But the long-term benefits of re-entry to the scheme would far outweigh the costs. Those benefits would be educational, but also social and cultural, and would nicely complement the Youth Mobility Scheme for the younger end of the age-range. Maybe the economic advantages of Youth Mobility would pay for Erasmus. That would be neat.
derby4europe 