Brexit and Erasmus +: what changes in the new era of Europe

The die has been cast, United Kingdom is out and there is a deal with European Union, establishing new rules and what changes in this new situation also for mobility programs and Erasmus +.
 

When does Brexit enter into force?

Starting from January 1st the period of transition between the belonging to EU and Brexit finishes. The country where the language we commonly use when we travel is spoken goes officially out from the European Union.

The British voted in June 2016 the Referendum to decide if the UK should leave the EU or not: 52% in favor of leaving and 48% to remain a member.
 

The deal is done

... is what Boris Johnson writes on Twitter sharing a picture of himself with his thumbs up.
Commercially, there is a zero tariff free trade deal (Boris Johnson post on Twitter).
Nevertheless, moving to the UK will not be as easy as it was before.

Do you want to move to the UK?

London has always been the coolest destination for young people who wanted to learn English. They used to go there during summer to study and work as waiter or waitress, make work experience, earn some money and study in one of the most innovative European capitals.

Starting from January the 1st this will not be possible anymore. After Brexit people can move to the UK with a visa, that can have only if they already have a job offer with a salary starting from £25.600 (€28.000).

There are some exceptions:

- Medical staff has the right of fast-track entry, and it will be easier for them to move to the UK to work and the required salary to obtain visa is lower. There is a special visa for them: the Health and Care visa
- For people who have a PhD entering in UK will be easier
- Global Leaders in the field of science or art are eligible to enter the UK also with no job offer (1)

For those who already study or work in the UK before Brexit nothing changes, but they need to apply for the EU Settled Scheme, demonstrating to have lived in the UK before 2021.

What happens to Erasmus +?

Basically, the UK is no longer an Erasmus + program country. Erasmus is run in seven-years cycles and the next one is from 2021 to 2027.
Approved projects of the last cycle (2014-2020) can still take place in UK, but for the next cycle probably not. The point is that some countries not belonging to EU do take part in Erasmus projects as “program members” (for instance Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Serbia), but there is no deal yet for UK and if it wants to join Erasmus + there could be no time to decide a deal for this cycle.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the UK will have one other exchange program, named Alan Turing, giving UK citizens the opportunity to study not in the best European Universities, but in the best Universities in the world (2).

What is sure is that Erasmus program has helped many disadvantaged people to develop themselves (not considering how many young people it helped to get a job or just feel Europeans and not mentioning all the unique opportunities it gives to Europeans) and it will be hard to reproduce something similar with other programs.

For those who still have doubts, you can consult the EU document with Questions and Answers about Brexit and the guide of what changes for every country in Europe 

If you want to discover more about Erasmus in Italian language follow me on Instagram or Facebook, read my blog and check my upcoming section about Erasmus + and new opportunities to take part in projects.

(1) Corriere della sera 

(2) BBC