UK officials are willing to spend up to £450m annually to allow EU students to pay the same university fees as British students, provided the EU grants Britain access to its Made in Europe industrial scheme, the Guardian has learned.
The government has drafted plans to compensate universities for the lost revenue from reduced fees. Under the most expensive scenario involving full fee alignment and high demand, costs could reach £450m per year, though sources dispute this figure as potentially speculative.
The proposal hinges on a trade-off. UK negotiators will only concede on student fees if they receive guarantees that British companies receive the same treatment as EU firms under the new industrial scheme. EU member states have demanded fees of just over £9,000 annually instead of international rates exceeding £60,000.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham aims to finalize multiple agreements at a Brussels summit on 20 November. Negotiators have largely reached consensus on emissions trading, agricultural products, and a youth mobility scheme allowing up to 80,000 young Europeans to work, live and study in Britain. The two sides also near agreement on British access to European biometric databases to track asylum seekers.
France recently shifted position on the Made in Europe scheme, proposing that British manufacturers could participate if the UK accepted "dynamic alignment" on EU tariffs. This presents a challenge for Britain, which maintains much lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles than the EU. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds recently told the Guardian he would not set tariff policy in response to pressure from Brussels.
Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday praised Burnham's "willingness to face reality head-on" regarding closer EU ties, saying the government must prove to the public the benefits of such a relationship.