Key facts
- Under the most expensive scenario, reducing EU student fees to domestic levels with very high demand could cost the government £450 million a year, two sources who saw the costings said.
- A government official described the £450 million figure as speculative, and another source said the true cost was likely to be lower.
- EU officials want EU students to pay just over £9,000 a year, against international fees that can rise above £60,000.
- Analyst Mark Corver previously calculated the policy would cost the sector £140 million in the first year and £400 million across a typical three-year course.
- Agreement is understood to have largely been reached on emissions trading, agricultural products and a youth mobility scheme, with reports suggesting up to 80,000 young Europeans could come to Britain.
- The UK is also seeking access to Eurodac and the Schengen Information System II, and negotiators are nearing agreement on European biometric databases.
The UK government has drawn up plans to let students from the EU pay the same university fees as British students and is prepared to compensate universities with as much as £450 million a year, but only if Brussels grants Britain access to its Made in Europe industrial program, the Guardian reported, citing sources.
British officials insist they will concede on fees only in return for entry to the proposed scheme, which would impose trade restrictions on countries outside the bloc. One person with knowledge of the talks said: "We are willing to give the Europeans what they want on fees, but we will have to get something significant in return." A government spokesperson said the UK is building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen its economy and protect British industry.
Negotiators have been working for months toward a summit on November 20. Agreement is understood to have largely been reached on emissions trading, agricultural products and a youth mobility scheme, with reports suggesting up to 80,000 young Europeans could be allowed to come to Britain, against an EU demand of 100,000 to 150,000. The two sides are also nearing agreement on European biometric databases, which could help the UK track asylum seekers.
EU officials want EU students to pay just over £9,000 a year rather than international fees that can rise above £60,000. The demand briefly brought negotiations to a standstill. Two sources who saw Treasury costings said the most expensive scenario, cutting fees to domestic levels with very high demand, could cost £450 million a year; another source said the true cost was likely lower, and a government official called the figure speculative. Mark Corver, director at Campus Numerics, previously calculated the policy would cost the sector £140 million in the first year and £400 million over a typical three-year course.
France, the principal opponent of UK inclusion in the Industrial Accelerator Act, shifted its position with a proposal that any country in the single market on January 1, 2020 could take part if it dynamically aligned on trade measures. That could conflict with the UK's lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles; business secretary Jonathan Reynolds recently told the Guardian he would not set tariff policy in response to pressure from Brussels.
Rachel Reeves, in her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, praised Burnham's willingness to face reality head-on and said she would argue in a Harvard speech on Monday that the UK's economic interests, common values and geographical reality all point toward Europe. The first draft of a joint statement was due before EU ambassadors on Wednesday, with text open to change until November 20.