LONDON – The UK government has shot down a proposal that would have allowed easier access for young Britons to study, work, and reside within the European Union.
In a recent development, Brussels pitched a proposal to Rishi Sunak’s government aimed at facilitating easier access for young Britons.
The plan put forth by the European Commission was unveiled on Thursday and under the proposed mechanism, EU and UK citizens aged 18 to 30 would have moved freely between the two regions, marking a significant departure since Brexit.
The European Union argues that Britain’s departure from the bloc after the 2016 referendum has disrupted mobility between the UK and continental Europe; the proposal was initiated in the same spirit.
According to the proposal outlined by the EU’s executive branch, young citizens from both the EU and the UK would have had the opportunity to reside for up to four years in their destination country.
Before the nerve-racking Brexit, British nationals had the right to live and work within the EU, reciprocated by similar privileges for EU citizens in the UK.
However, a spokesperson for the government confirmed that the government seems to have dismissed the proposal.
“We are not introducing an EU-wide youth mobility scheme – free movement within the EU was ended and there are no plans to introduce it,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
It is to be clarified that Britain has expressed interest in inking agreements with individual European nations and has its own Youth Mobility Scheme, which has been extended to certain EU member states.
The fallout of Brexit seems to be continuing even to this day in terms of trade, economics, mobility and immigration. Britain voted by 52 to 48 percent to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum and the exit has only exacerbated divisions among the public, MPs and ministers besides dethroning senior government officials including Theresa May.
