The European Union has indicated that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's upcoming summit to 'reset' UK-EU relations may still take place in July, despite growing fears of a postponement to autumn due to deadlocked talks over youth mobility. 'The summit is supposed to be mid-July but at the moment it could be put back to after the summer,' said one EU diplomat, adding that momentum is being lost.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told a conference in Brussels: 'I believe that still the expectation is that we would have the summit, most probably in July.' He acknowledged that a youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s to travel freely on a three-year visa is one of the top three issues, and one that EU ministers care deeply about. Šefčovič noted that 20 of 27 European ministers stressed the importance of youth experience in recent discussions.
The UK Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, who met Šefčovič in Brussels on Friday, described the talks as 'positive' and full of 'hope and optimism'. He said the UK is 'very aware of the strength of feeling' on youth mobility but any deal must be 'respectful' to both sides. Kyle added that the summit, originally due in May, has no fixed date but is 'incoming', and the UK is 'throwing our heart and soul into this reset'.
Four EU sources said talks remain deadlocked over the EU's insistence that its citizens studying in the UK under the scheme pay 'home' tuition fees, while the UK wants to cap numbers at 40,000 to 50,000 a year. One EU source accused the UK of trying to link the youth mobility scheme to other issues. Kyle noted there are also issues for the British side, including business mobility.
An EU diplomat complained about the secrecy of talks, saying leading politicians cannot provide the help they want to expedite a deal. 'We struggle a bit with the Brits because we don’t know their plan, their vision,' the diplomat said. Kyle told the conference that the relationship had 'healed' and relations could be closer after the summit, but the UK must consider voters' concerns about migration.
