Brussels proposes return to pre-Brexit mobility for UK and EU young people

Change would mean millions of young people could come to the UK to fill the gap left by Brexit in the hospitality sector. Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in one another’s countries, albeit for a limited period and with conditions.