The British government led by Boris Johnson has expressed its willingness, once Brexit takes effect, to far leave the United Kingdom also from the Erasmus project, the exchange program between students from the European Union. The issue was settled on Wednesday 8 January, with the approval of the implementing law on the withdrawal of the Kingdom from the EU on January 31st. From that moment the most delicate and complex phase will begin, which will include negotiations on various aspects, such as trade, security, defense and research.
After days of debate, the deputies voted to approve the bill with 344 votes in favor and 254 against, now the decision passes to the House of Lords, probably in line with what was expressed by the Commons. In the face of this eventuality, the European Council had adopted a series of emergency measures to ensure that students already participating in the program could complete their course until the end of 2020.
Since yesterday online users have expressed their dissent in the field. Not only the students of the Kingdom, who are deprived of the possibility of a cultural exchange, have reacted furiously. According to the British historian Simon Schama "this is a miserable decision, theft from the young and future generations".
Sergio Battelli, president of the EU Policy Commission of the Chamber, writes that “the EU must necessarily rethink the educational path for the new generations. Only exchange and integration will make the European citizen of tomorrow, not closures and entrenchments”. Deputy Education Minister Anna Ascani commented on Facebook that the decision "would deprive future generations of important educational experiences". And many more were outraged by this decision.
Faced with the furious reactions of Europe and the students, the UK has tried to throw water on the fire by arguing that there is no more nothing definitive about Erasmus. According to undersecretary of education and university Chris Skidmore “the vote does not mean that Great Britain will leave Erasmus plus forever after leaving the European Union. The UK's participation in the project – he continued – will form part of our future negotiations with the EU. We place great value on international student exchanges.”
Despite the vote, it is said that there will not be an alternative solution that allows students to train for a limited period in the Kingdom and vice versa. As already practiced by many countries such as Turkey, Norway or Iceland, there is the possibility of paid participation, or again, that it is the universities that establish future relationships with their counterparts in Europe. In any case, the United Kingdom will have to negotiate exchange programs with individual countries.
Another vote in the House of Commons that caused a scandal concerns the Johnson government's renunciation of accepting unaccompanied refugee children, despite the fact that family members are already present in the country. And also in this case the British government defends itself by deeming that what concerns the protection of minor refugees is not included in the withdrawal agreement and that the protection of vulnerable children will remain, in any case, a priority in the post-Brexit period.
