Abta recommendation included in select committee report on EU relations

Abta’s support for a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU has been referenced in a report published by the House of Commons’ business and trade committee ahead of a key summit next week.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (May 19) alongside European Council president António Costa and the EU high foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas.

The business and trade committee said the summit would provide the first chance to set out a renewed alliance between the UK and the EU since the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was signed in December 2020.

Abta welcomed the committee’s report, which sets out 20 policy options it believes should form the core of any reset in trade relations, while calling on the proposed youth mobility scheme to go further.

The report suggests that a scheme should be developed to allow young people to spend up to 12 months in the EU or the UK for “cultural and educational exchange, facilitating language acquisition, fostering a deeper understanding of shared European history and heritage and enabling work and apprenticeship opportunities”.

Abta is cited in the report as supporting such a scheme, but the authors acknowledge the association would want the time period to be longer than 12 months because “businesses require the confidence and flexibility to plan operations beyond 12-month periods”.

The report added that Abta pointed out that other UK youth mobility schemes last up to three years.

Abta is also cited in the report in the section on mutual recognition of qualifications.

The report stated that Abta had called on the Department for Business and Trade to “initiate a rapid consultation with various sectors of the UK economy” to allow the UK to negotiate with the EU on “all relevant qualifications”.