What Erasmus for 2021-2027?
16 July 2018
Partners and stakeholders gathered at the European Parliament to discuss the proposal for Erasmus Student Mobility under the new Erasmus programme for 2021-2027, in a meeting organised by the European Parliament’s Youth Intergroup and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN).
On 30 May, the Commission adopted its proposal for the next Erasmus programme, with a doubling of the budget to 30 billion euros for the period 2021-2027. Building on the success of Erasmus+, the next programme will provide learning and mobility opportunities to 12 million people, in comparison to 4 million people in the current programme. The Erasmus programme will continue to cover schools, vocational education and training, higher education and adult learning – youth and sport, but in a more streamlined manner.
The proposal for the future Erasmus+ programme aims at reaching 3 times more students than Erasmus+, with a double budget. Although globally considered positive, many concerns were raised to the proposal, especially in what concerns budget, considered insufficient for such an ambitious proposal.
Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, head of unit at DG EAC, informed that the discussion with stakeholders would continue in order to give input to the final proposal. The European Commission wants to simplify procedures and foster new mobility opportunities with new formats (blended/virtual mobility). Inclusion is also key for the future programme, as well as the outreach for the global society (by volunteering, engagement with local society).
The EC representative expects that the European Universities initiative will boost new models of cooperation. The links with other funding programmes was also considered a positive aspect of the new proposal.
The Erasmus Sudent Network reffered to the 13 recommendations of the Erasmus Upgrade Manifesto, published at the end of April, which intends to suggest improvement to the successor of the Erasmus+ Programme (2021-2027).