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SPAIN AND THE UK

Can Spain and the UK legally create a ‘free movement scheme’ for young people?

With recent reports that Sánchez and Starmer have discussed potentially setting up a 'youth mobility scheme' between Spain and the UK, would such a deal between an EU and non-EU country be viable or does it contravene the bloc's rules?

Published: 30 July 2024 10:10 CEST
Can Spain and the UK legally create a 'free movement scheme' for young people?
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a bilateral meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, at the European Political Community meeting, at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, southern England, on July 18, 2024. (Photo by Kin Cheung / POOL / AFP)

British media reported over the weekend that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has discussed with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer the possibility of a ‘youth mobility scheme’.

Both The Guardian and The Telegraph have reported that Sánchez raised the idea during a meeting at the European Political Community summit hosted at in the UK recently.

Starmer reportedly told Sánchez he would think about the idea. When in opposition, Starmer said his Labour Party no plans for any such scheme when Rishi Sunak turned down a similar idea from the European Commission that would have given free movement to 18 to 30 year olds.

There have long been calls for expanded cooperation between the UK and EU when it comes to learning and cultural exchanges such as a youth mobility scheme.

Spain and the UK have both bucked rightward electoral trends across Europe in recent years, and the Sánchez and Starmer governments are two of the leading left-leaning governments in Europe. This could, some hope, indicate the beginning of a closer UK-Spain relationship.

University exchange programmes like Erasmus were also previously a big part of this relationship, as well as the tourism industry and the hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals living in each country.

But with Sánchez rekindling the idea of some sort of youth mobility scheme, in whatever form it takes, one has to wonder if it’d even be possible.

Can Spain and the UK legally create their own youth mobility scheme?

In theory, yes. Or rather, maybe – depending on the specifics. Whether or not it’s realistic is another question. EU member states can make unilateral agreements and investment treaties with non-EU countries, so long as they satisfy various EU legal requirements.

Spain, for example, already has reciprocal arrangements with several non-EU countries. Spain’s working holiday visa, also known as a ‘Youth Mobility visa’, is a scheme that allows young people from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and South Korea to live and work in Spain for a one-year period.

So Spain has form and is certainly open to making mobility deals with non-EU countries.

READ ALSO: Which countries does Spain have working holiday visa agreements with?

Equally, the UK already has similar arrangements with 13 non-EU countries, including Canada and New Zealand as well as Japan and Uruguay. However, none with EU member states for now.

But ultimately it may boil down to whether the UK and Spain will set up such a scheme without the go-ahead from the EU.

Member States do have some freedom when it comes to deciding its immigration rules. Portugal until recently was the only EU country that allowed non-EU nationals to move there without a job (the arrival of a new right-wing government has changed this), and Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban has just relaxed entry rules for Russians and Byelorussians, something Brussels is certainly against.

So, it seems that a Spanish-British mobility scheme, in other words a bilateral immigration agreement, in theory could be possible, especially if it’s not in direct conflict with EU law, principles and policies.

Spain receives the most Erasmus students of all EU countries, 143,000 in 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

According to the EU’s very own immigration page: “The EU and EU countries share competences in this area, but it’s up to each EU country to take the final decision on individual migrant applications. In areas where no EU rules have been adopted, EU countries can also set the conditions on obtaining residence and work permits in their country.”

So, legally speaking, the idea is at least plausible. Where it might actually run into problems is the politics of it all. It’s true that the Starmer government has made a point of ‘resetting’ relations with Europe, but still, years after the referendum and Brexit came into force, the EU may not want to be seen to allow the UK to pick and choose parts of EU membership to benefit from.

Furthermore, a follow-up to the possible Spain-UK youth mobility scheme in The Independent suggests Starmer has already ruled out Sánchez’s suggestion of a tailor-made student exchange deal, quoting a government spokesperson who said “we are not considering a youth mobility scheme”.

READ ALSO: 

It’s also worth noting again that last April the EU offered the UK the possibility of a youth mobility scheme for people aged 18 to 30, so there is political will for it from Brussels and Madrid, whilst UK governments whether Conservative or Labour are more apprehensive.

Whatever the political will in London and Madrid, as Stefanie Schacherer from University of Geneva’s law department writes in Investment Treaty News, the bottom line is that “to open negotiations or sign a BIT (bilateral investment treaty), member states must obtain authorisation from the European Commission.”

For millions of young Brits missing out on the chance to work and study in Europe, and tens of thousands of Spaniards who have it harder to spend time in the UK improving their English, the hope will be the new Labour government can thaw UK-EU relations enough for the European Commission to allow Spain to enter into some sort of bilateral mobility scheme for students and young people. 

Or who knows, perhaps Starmer’s Labour will backtrack on their previous pledge (it wouldn’t be the first time) and accept the European Commission’s bloc-wide mobility offer. The offer is still reportedly on the table.

According to academic think tank UK in a changing Europe, the proposed EU-UK youth mobility scheme cannot be considered to be free movement “because it only allows individuals to come for a limited period and does not allow them to settle in the UK or EU member state”.

READ ALSO: BREXIT: Can Spain legally offer more than 90 days to Britons?

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POLITICS

Gibraltar demands Spain return stolen concrete block in new diplomatic spat

The concrete block was stolen from British waters in 2013 by a Spanish far-right politician but threatens to worsen ties between Madrid and London over a decade later at a critical time for the overseas territory’s post-Brexit status.

Published: 12 September 2024 09:45 CEST
Gibraltar demands Spain return stolen concrete block in new diplomatic spat

A block of concrete stolen from an artificial reef in British waters has sparked a political spat between Gibraltar and Spanish far-right party Vox, with the British overseas territory’s Chief Minister making a formal complaint to Madrid demanding that it be returned.

This comes as seemingly never ending negotiations between Britain and Spain to finalise Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status drag on.

The block was stolen from waters close to Gibraltar in 2013 by Vox spokesman Javier Ortega Smith, an outspoken Spanish nationalist and former special forces soldier. 

Spanish media reports suggest the justification at the time was that the artificial reef was impeding the work of Spanish fishermen and that Ortega Smith was aided by Spanish divers. The creation of the reef, which included tens of concrete blocks, aggravated relations between Britain and Spain at the time.

READ ALSO: ‘Starting now’: New UK govt wastes no time in Gibraltar post-Brexit talks with Spain

Once stolen, the block was taken back to Madrid and is displayed at Vox’s national party headquarters. Gibraltarian authorities then issued an arrest warrant for Ortega Smith.

Now over a decade later Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has filed a claim in Madrid for the block’s return. Speaking on Gibraltar’s national day, Picardo stated “That block is currently at the entrance of the Vox headquarters. Well, I have news for Vox and for you, my friends. We are going to get it back and it is coming home.”

Speaking to The Times, Picardo explained: “It’s our property. We want it back. It was paid for by Gibraltar’s taxpayers for a conservation purpose which was praised by King Charles himself. We expect the Spanish courts will order its return to the government of Gibraltar.”

In response Ortega Smith mocked Picardo online and employed common anti-Gibraltarian tropes: “Let’s see, pirate Fabian Picardo. If you dare, come and get it and carry it away on your back. Gibraltar is Spanish! Pirates out of the Rock!”

For the Spanish far-right, Gibraltar has long been a blood and soil type rallying call for nationalist groups. In July, when the Spanish football team won Euro 2024, another diplomatic spat erupted when Spanish players sang Gibraltar es Español (Gibraltar is Spanish) during the celebrations. 

READ ALSO: ‘Gibraltar is Spanish!’: How Spain celebrated Euro 2024 heroes

Although a dispute over a concrete block stolen over a decade ago may seem trivial, it comes at a critical point in diplomatic relations between London and Madrid. Since Brexit came into effect at the end of 2020, Gibraltar has essentially existed in legal limbo with no formal treaty.

Border controls have been fudged ever since, leaving locals and Spaniards across the border faced with inconsistent rules and forcing travellers to find creative ways to bypass rules and get over ‘La Línea’. 

READ ALSO: Hard border? What we know so far about new Gibraltar-Spain checks

Schengen Zone rules mean that the two major outstanding points in treaty negotiations are the presence of Spanish border guards on British soil, something Gibraltar rejects outright, and the question of who would run Gibraltar’s airport, which is located on the isthmus between Spain and the British territory, an area Madrid claims was never included in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht that ceded Gibraltar to the British.

Optimistic noises were made when former Prime Minister David Cameron briefly became Foreign Secretary earlier this year but no treaty was ever finalised. His successor David Lammy will likely try and incorporate a deal with Madrid, overseen by the EU, as part of the new Labour government’s wider reset in relations with Europe. He has already signalled his intent and spoken to his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares soon after the UK general election over the summer.

Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status will also be one of the first issues in the intray of incoming British Ambassador Alexander Ellis KCMG, who took over from Hugh Elliott last week. His diplomatic skills may be necessary to get a treaty deal over the line, some eight years after the Brexit referendum. 

Ellis previously worked as the British ambassador in Brazil and Portugal and was also British High Commissioner in India. Following the Brexit referendum he also worked for two years in the department responsible for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, something that may have factored into his appointment.

READ MORE: UK ambassador to Spain bids farewell to Brits – who is his successor?

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