Sadiq Khan has said he is still lobbying Sir Keir Starmer to create a youth mobility scheme with the EU - despite Government resistance to the policy.
It comes as Sir Keir on Wednesday held a lunchtime meeting with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels - where officials are similarly keen for such a scheme.
If a deal is struck, it would enable young people from the UK to live and work in the EU for a fixed period, and vice versa.
The Prime Minister has refused the idea so far, telling reporters last week: “We’ve no plans for a youth mobility scheme but we are heading out [to Brussels] for an important meeting this week - I don’t want to get ahead of any important discussion we’ll have.”
A Government spokesman said in August: “We are not considering it, there are no plans for this, or any work being done on it.”
But London’s mayor has said agreeing a deal is “incredibly important” and could help address skill shortages in the capital.
Mr Khan told the Standard on Tuesday: “There are a couple of things that I want to see in relation to this particular area. One, which I think is within my gift, is I think it’s possible for us to come up with an Erasmus scheme.
“Not like the old Erasmus scheme, because we’d need Government support - but a shorter-term one, where students can study abroad and others can study here, working with colleagues in the higher education sector in other cities.
“The second thing is things that I’ve not got the power to do, but I’m lobbying for - so a youth mobility scheme is something that I’m lobbying the Government for.”
The UK currently has youth mobility deals with Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and a small handful of other countries, but has no such scheme with the EU. In April, the EU Commission proposed a visa scheme that would allow European and UK citizens aged between 18 and 30 to stay for up to four years in each other’s countries - but no agreement was reached.
“I think it’s a great scheme, those below the age of 30 working in London and vice versa,” said Mr Khan. “I will carry on lobbying the Government in relation to a youth mobility scheme going forward.”
Sir Keir said ahead of his trip to Brussels that he is “determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship with the European Union”.
A unnamed EU official told the Guardian this week: “The Commission mainly wants to see if Starmer is willing to engage on the detail of a youth mobility scheme. If he shows a willingness to do so, that could unlock a lot of other ‘low-hanging fruit’ such as a defence deal.”
