Anatomy of a Stalemate: Making Sense of the EU-UK Youth Mobility Controversy

Abstract

This policy commentary explores the puzzling stalemate over a proposed Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK), offering a deep analysis of its emergence as a site of post-Brexit contestation. Despite appearing as a low-stakes, mutually advantageous initiative, youth mobility became mired in mutual misperceptions, political caution, and institutional rigidity. Drawing on the conceptual triad of bounded rationality, path dependence and bilateralism, the policy commentary traces how misaligned expectations, historical baggage and diverging preferences for multilateral versus bilateral approaches have locked both sides into intransigent positions. Rather than reflecting irreconcilable interests, the impasse reveals how these constraints continue to shape - and distort - the initial stages of policy cooperation. As such, understanding this stalemate not only sheds light on missed opportunities for young people on both sides of the Channel, but also offers critical lessons for the future architecture of UK-EU engagement.