UK weighs £450 million annual subsidy for EU student fees in exchange for access to EU’s “Made in Europe” scheme

The British government is considering spending up to £450 million a year to let EU students pay domestic-level university tuition fees, but wants British companies to receive equal treatment under the European Union’s planned “Made in Europe” industrial programme in return.

The proposal is part of negotiations ahead of a UK-EU summit on November 20 and would involve public money compensating British universities for the income lost if EU students were charged lower fees.

The £450 million figure is an upper-end Treasury estimate based on strong demand from EU students and has not been finalized. Government officials have described it as speculative, and other estimates put the likely cost lower.

London sees access to “Made in Europe” as a major industrial priority. The planned EU programme is expected to give preference to European products and companies in areas such as cars, steel and clean technology, raising concerns in Britain that UK manufacturers could be disadvantaged if excluded.

Neither the tuition-fee concession nor UK participation in the scheme has been agreed.

France has proposed allowing countries that were part of the EU single market on January 1, 2020 to participate, provided they align dynamically with EU trade measures. That condition could prove contentious because Britain currently applies lower tariffs than the EU on some Chinese electric vehicles.