They were among the biggest casualties of Brexit – and were not even given a vote in the matter.
A full decade after Britain’s startling choice to exit the European Union, younger citizens are increasingly calling for reconnection. Above all, they seek the right to live and work across Europe – a freedom their parents once enjoyed.
“I’m not picky about where,” says Marley Toghill, an ecologist in his early 20s from Bristol, who notes that professional experience abroad would sharpen his expertise. “But you have to get a visa, and only the huge companies arrange that and it’s obviously very competitive.”
The difficult reality for Mr. Toghill and his peers is that any full return to the EU remains distant, regardless of widespread regret over Brexit.
Courtesy of Marley Toghill
Marley Toghill is an ecologist from southwest England who says he would love to live and work in Europe.
On a more hopeful note, the U.K. and EU are beginning to mend their fractured ties, moving slowly and with caution. Britain has already rejoined Horizon Europe, a scientific research initiative, and the Erasmus+ student exchange, aiding tens of thousands each year. Officials on both sides are also pursuing deeper cooperation on trade, energy, security, and, importantly, freedom of movement.
A gentle waltz
The Brexit separation was bitter, requiring over three painful years to untangle. It may therefore surprise some that Britain and the EU are again exploring alignment.
For the moment, the steps are tentative. Andy Burnham will face numerous challenges upon becoming prime minister on July 20 and will set his own diplomatic tempo. Though broadly pro-European, he faces complex negotiations.
Yet Mr. Burnham recognizes that the nation he leads is again tilted toward Europe. The sluggish $4 trillion U.K. economy is estimated to be up to $250 billion smaller due to Brexit. Closer ties could eventually lift workers, exporters, and public finances.
The electorate has also shifted markedly in a decade, with millions of younger, largely pro-European voters added to the rolls.
“The vast majority of Britons now want Britain to have a closer relationship with Europe, particularly since Trump came to office,” says Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, referencing his think tank’s research.
“The polls show a big majority in favor of looking to Europe, not America,” Mr. Leonard says.
Charlie and Emilia Robinson are siblings from southwest London, both of whom would love the opportunity to live and work in Europe after they graduate from college.
Siblings Charlie and Emilia Robinson wish for greater access to the continent. Some 35 years ago, their mother Victoria freely spent a year teaching English in Paris. No visas, no work permit, No problem.
“It was such a unique selling point of the EU. It’s such a shame that we don’t have it any more,” says Ms. Robinson, a German and French student who hopes to work abroad after graduating.
Mr. Robinson, a Spanish student, wanted a year teaching in Madrid. The visa process took months and nearly $1,000 in fees.
“For me, it seems like Brexit has been a total loss of all advantages with absolutely nothing back in return,” he says.
Londoner Beau Boka-Batesa also paid heavily for European work. The French speaker secured a Paris business school job but had to handle her own visa, costing $8,100.
“I was 13 at the time of the Brexit vote. But even then I knew it was going to impact me,” she says. “It’s a real nightmare.”
Courtesy of Beau Boka-Batesa
Beau Boka-Batesa, who ended up paying thousands of dollars for a course to get a French visa, was too young to vote in the Brexit referendum in 2016. But she says the impact of Britain leaving the EU has been “a real nightmare” for her generation.
A slow reset
A proposed deal offering thousands of work visas would appeal to Britain’s Generation Z, many of whom have left Mr. Burnham’s Labour Party for the Greens.
But a “reset” summit with the EU has been delayed twice, lately to let Mr. Burnham settle in. Many anticipate a fall reset, though nothing is certain.
That uncertainty stems from the intricacy of U.K.–EU relations.
Joining EU programs carries economic promise, especially for a strained British economy unable to fund past public generosity. It also demands compromises: shared sovereignty, open borders, and alignment with European rules.
Thus far, Labour has moved gradually. With dense domestic issues, Europe may not be the prime minister’s priority.
Mr. Burnham “has said he wants to rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but that’s sufficiently vague,” notes Jannike Wachowiak of UK in a Changing Europe. “In the next three years we will see a continuation of the incremental approach.”
By 2029, the likely election year, Labour may lag behind voters who increasingly want the benefits of EU membership.
In some respects, Britain has grown less European post-Brexit. EU migrants have been replaced by workers from farther afield, and European languages are declining in schools.
“There is less Europe in our lives than there used to be,” says Al Pinkerton, a Liberal Democrat MP. “Our horizons have been shortened.”
