EU member states are considering temporarily shelving a push to secure lower tuition fees for their students at UK universities, paving the way for a long-delayed “reset” summit between the two sides next month.
The European Commission on Wednesday asked member states to hold off on pursuing their demand for cheaper fees for EU students at British universities until after a planned November 20 summit, removing a key obstacle to concluding a deal to improve the UK’s trading relations with the bloc.
Instead, the UK would be asked to commit to finalising an agreement on tuition fees with the EU within six months. “There is openness [to the idea] although no consensus has yet been reached,” said one EU diplomat.
“It is a gift to the UK so they can continue their good momentum,” said a second EU diplomat, adding that UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s talk of forging closer ties with Brussels had softened attitudes among member states.
“When you have a government that is not ideological but pragmatic in its relationship with the EU it is easier to give a gift.”
Since Brexit, EU students have paid international tuition fees at UK universities, which can often be three or four times the £9,790 currently levied on their British counterparts.
Some EU member states want the bloc’s students to go back to paying “home fees”. One EU diplomat said Britain had offered an unspecified “discount” on the international fees — but added that was not sufficient.
The two sides are now entering the final stages of crunch talks to conclude a three-part agreement that will remove border checks on food and drink exports, re-link EU and UK carbon markets, and allow 18-30-year-olds to live, work and study in each other’s countries for up to three years.
Since taking office last July, Burnham has said he wants to reopen the debate over the UK’s relationship with the EU, promising to use the summit as a springboard to deepening ties with Brussels.
A Commission proposal to EU ambassadors said that three main reset agreements would be concluded at “negotiators’ level”, pending the completion of the discussions about tuition fees.
Two EU diplomats said they anticipated that implementation of the reset package would be conditional on a deal over the fees.
Diplomats familiar with the ongoing negotiations said that, outside of the tuition fees dispute, the shape of a reciprocal “youth experience scheme” remained the biggest source of disagreement between the two sides.
They are still to agree a cap on the number of places available under the scheme, with the EU demanding at least 100,000 to be shared out among the bloc’s 27 member states based on their population size.
Brussels is also demanding the UK waive the annual £776 NHS surcharge that non-British residents must pay to use the country’s National Health Service. Diplomats said the UK had offered a 25 per cent discount, which the EU has rejected.
UK officials conceded that tough negotiations were taking place with the EU, but Britain was sticking to its “red lines” that any youth experience scheme should be capped to leave London in control of the numbers able to access the programme.
The two sides are also considering a joint summit statement promising to address the UK’s concerns about the EU’s Made in Europe policy, which aims to protect the bloc’s industry from Chinese competitors.
Burnham has warned the policy could damage British industry, but EU diplomats said the UK would have to align investment and tariff policies to be fully included.
A British official said if the EU agreed to include the UK in the policy — with agreement on a tuition fees deal to be negotiated at a later date — that would be seen in London as “a good deal”.
Meanwhile EU diplomats said an agreement to remove border checks on food and drink products was “pretty much complete”.
The UK is expected to be granted temporary exemptions from EU rules governing novel foods such as meat grown in laboratories and gene editing of plants — both of which were key demands of British industry. The UK would also be able to keep its ban on live animal transportation.
The UK Cabinet Office declined to comment on negotiations with the EU. It added: “We are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen our economy and create more opportunities for young people and communities across the whole UK.”
The European Commission declined to comment.