Row over university fees shows UK’s reset with EU may not be so simple

This week the government is pursuing a 'Brexit reset', with ministers pressing to forge closer ties with Brussels nearly 10 years after the referendum. Nick Thomas-Symonds will travel to Brussels for a meeting of the joint EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly, accompanied by the Europe minister, Stephen Doughty, and the trade minister, Chris Bryant.

A day later the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will give her second Mais lecture and make the case that closer alignment with the EU is central to the government's growth agenda. A fresh row has broken out over Brussels's demand for lower tuition fees for European students.

The dispute centres on whether EU students should pay domestic fees of about £9,500 a year or international fees that can exceed £60,000; the European Commission wants reduced fees for all EU students, a change the commission estimates would cost British universities about £140m a year.

United Kingdom, Brussels

brexit reset, eu-uk, tuition fees, european students, european commission, british universities, rachel reeves, nick thomas-symonds, stephen doughty, chris bryant