UK set to rejoin EU’s flagship Erasmus student exchange programme

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The UK is set to rejoin the European Union’s Erasmus+ student exchange programme, in the latest move by Sir Keir Starmer’s government to try to forge closer ties with the bloc.

A deal under which Britain will return to Erasmus in 2027 is expected to be announced on Wednesday, according to UK and EU officials familiar with the matter.

The Erasmus program enables students to spend a year at a university in a partner country while paying the same fees as their local counterparts.

Negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union focused on Britain’s financial contribution to the scheme, and talks on the details of the agreement continued on Tuesday evening.

UK ministers are expected to argue that they only signed the Erasmus deal as a result of EU concessions on cost, and to highlight how they recently rejected the case for Britain joining the bloc’s new rearmament program on the grounds that the terms were too expensive.

However, UK ministers are also expected to hail the opportunity for British students to study abroad under the Erasmus program as a concrete example of improving relations with the EU.

Starmer has promised young people, who voted for his Labor government in large numbers, that he will boost their opportunities to live and work in the EU.

A deal to return the UK to Erasmus will be welcomed by British universities and the European Union, which have urged the two sides to reach an agreement given the scheme’s popularity among students and administrators.

Tim Bradshaw, CEO of the Russell Group of UK Universities, said: “We are delighted that the UK is joining Erasmus+… Erasmus+ opens up fantastic opportunities for students, adult learners and young people all to benefit from new experiences and learning. It will also renew the huge contributions that EU students and staff make to life on our university campuses.”

The UK opted out of Erasmus after leaving the European Union in 2020. Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that Erasmus represented poor value to UK taxpayers because the country contributed “far more” than it received as a result of low uptake of the program by UK students.

Britain contributed £1.17 billion to Erasmus between 2015 and 2019. Ministers in Johnson’s government told parliament in 2021 that the scheme would have required a UK contribution of £2bn for the five-year period after Brexit.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister responsible for the UK’s relations with the EU in Starmer’s government, told the Financial Times in May that he was open to Britain returning to the Erasmus program if it was based on “reasonable proposals” from Brussels.

The expected deal is part of a wider attempt by Starmer to reset the UK’s relations with the EU, although it comes just weeks after Britain rejected the chance to join the EU’s new €140 billion defense fund called Security Action for Europe.

Separately from the Erasmus programme, the UK and EU aim to create a youth mobility scheme that would allow young people aged 18 to 30 to work and travel more freely in each other’s countries.

The UK and EU also hope to conclude a so-called veterinary agreement that would simplify food export rules and reconnect carbon emissions trading schemes, with the aim of implementing the arrangements by mid-2027, according to British ministers.

The plans were revealed by Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in May.