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Press release

19-02-2026

Culture and Education Committee discussed strengthening cooperation with the UK

Erasmus+, the Youth Experience Scheme, Creative Europe, and touring artists were among the topics discussed by MEPs with their UK interlocutors.

A delegation of MEPs from the Committee on Culture and Education finished a three-day visit to London where they met with representatives of the UK government and the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as with members of the UK Parliament’s Houses of Commons and Lords. The delegation also met with representatives of the educational, youth and creative sectors as well as of cultural institutions.

All participants to the meetings were unanimous in welcoming the reassociation of the UK to Erasmus+ programme for 2027, pointing out its clear advantages in comparison with similar initiatives introduced by the UK since it left the EU programme. Both sides recognised the short timeline to launch the application process for 2027 and the importance of a successful participation to pave the way for the full association for the 2028-2034 period.

On the Youth Experience Scheme, the UK government reiterated its commitment to negotiate an agreement with the EU before the next EU-UK summit in 2026. The scheme would allow young people to have a non-purpose stay for a limited period to work, travel and study. On the latter, MEPs stressed that the main obstacle for EU students would be the high international fees charged by UK universities.

Regarding the Creative Europe and the future AgoraEU programmes, on which the UK government does not currently plan to negotiate a reassociation, representatives of the creative sectors told MEPs that being out of the EU programmes has negatively affected their international opportunities and forced them to look for other sources of funding.

Finally, the hurdles faced by touring artists were brought up frequently during the discussions. On the one hand, EU artists touring in the UK can face a complicated UK sponsorship scheme, while UK artists face a myriad of challenges, from different visa requirements and length of time allowed to perform in different EU countries, to the cost of carnets for equipment transport or cabotage rules that limit UK haulage companies travel through Europe. MEPs stressed that these obstacles do not only affect artists but also impact the quality of festivals in Europe.

Quote

“In the hard times we are experiencing, we all understand the need to strengthen the links between the EU and the UK. We have focused on security, but we need to also revive the human exchanges, and the participation in EU exchange programmes such as Erasmus+ and other programmes is the best way to achieve this. The exchanges we had in London showed us these feelings are strongly shared by our UK partners,” the chair of the delegation Laurence Farreng (Renew, FR) said.

The mission was led by Laurence Farreng (Renew, FR), who was joined by Loucas FOURLAS (EPP, CY), Hannes Heide (S&D, AT), Annamária VICSEK (PfE, HU), Ivaylo VALCHEV (ECR, BG), and Sandro GOZI as delegation chair for the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (Renew, FR).

Background

On 17 December 2025, the Commission and the UK government announced the conclusion of negotiations for the UK to rejoin the Erasmus+ programme in 2027. In the joint statement, Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and UK Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds also committed to conclude the negotiations on the Youth Experience Scheme by the time of the next EU-UK Summit. The UK government has not expressed the intention to join Creative Europe and AgoraEU programmes.