Reported by The Guardian
Exclusive: Plan to allow students from bloc pay same fees as Britons contingent on entry to industrial programme, officials say
Ministers are prepared to spend as much as £450m a year to give students from the EU discounted university fees, the Guardian has learned, but only if Brussels allows the UK access to its Made in Europe industrial programme.
The UK government has drawn up plans to allow students arriving from the continent pay the same fees as British students, sources say, and is willing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds compensating universities to do so.
More from the original report
British officials insist, however, they will only make concessions on fees if the EU allows Britain entry to its proposed protectionist industrial scheme, which will impose trade restrictions on countries outside the bloc.
On Sunday the former chancellor Rachel Reeves praised the prime minister , Andy Burnham, for a willingness to think boldly about the UK’s relationship with Europe – saying she believed Britain’s future was within the EU. But in her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury when Burnham took office, she said those forging a path back towards EU membership had to make compelling arguments to the public.
Ministers hope if such an agreement is reached at a Brussels summit later this month it will unlock millions of pounds’ worth of benefits for British companies looking to do business in the EU, and show that the prime minister’s attempts to forge much closer ties with the bloc are paying off.
But giving EU students cheaper access to British universities could prove controversial domestically, especially when many graduates are calling for changes to their own student loan repayment plans.
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. The biggest prize we are pushing for right now is access to Made in Europe, so there is a deal to be done there.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen our…