12 Million Youngsters to Benefit From New €26-Billion Worth Erasmus+ Programme

European Parliament and the Council’s negotiating team managed to secure a provisional agreement on the Erasmus + program for the 2021-2027 period.

Differently from the current program, the new one is expected to be more inclusive as well as to triple the number of participants, increasing it up to 12 million people, Erudera reports.

In addition to covering higher education, the new program will also cover all levels of education and all types of training. The planned budget will reach the amount of €24.57 billion at current prices, and the extra amount of €1.7 billion in 2018 prices, which marks a significant increase compared to the current program’s amount.

83 per cent of the total budget will be allocated for activities in education and training, followed by 10.3 per cent for youth activities, whereas 1.9 per cent to activities related to the field of sports.

The German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek expressed satisfaction over the Erasmus + program deal reached by the German Presidency of the Council together with the European Parliament.

“The new, larger programme for the period 2021-2027 focusses on inclusion. It enables us to support new initiatives and attract an even greater number of participants. We want to generate enthusiasm for Europe,” she said.

The main Erasmus + program objectives in education and training, youth and sport, include the following:

• promotion of learning mobility of individuals and groups in the education and training field.
• promotion of non-formal and informal learning mobility as well as active participation among youngsters in the field of youth.
• promotion of learning mobility of sports staff.

What Erasmus+ 2021-2027 Offers

Among others, the program intends to reach collaboration, inclusion, quality, creativity as well as innovation at organisations and policies level in the three abovementioned fields.

Following this, the Erasmus + program will back teaching, learning, research or debates on issues related to European integration, including the future challenges of the Union as well as opportunities through the “Jean Monnet actions”.

Erasmus+ 2021-2027 will also offer more access to learners in the following:

• general education
• vocational education or training
• adult education
• non-formal learning
• youth and sport

“It will also facilitate the participation of small scale and grassroots organisations, and people with fewer opportunities, including people with disabilities and migrants, as well as EU citizens living in remote areas,” reads a press release issued by the Council of the EU.

The program is also strengthened by provisions on remote learning and measures such as language support, preparatory visits, training and virtual collaboration for those who are not able to attend the learning mobility in the field of education, training, youth and sport.

Included in the Erasmus + 2021-2027 are also the DiscoverEU, European Universities and Centers of vocational excellence initiatives.

EU Commission Welcomes the Deal

The Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel welcomed the deal on the new Erasmus + program, claiming that participation in Erasmus has increased personal, social and professional development of more than 10 million people, 50 per cent of them during 2014-2020 period.

“With almost double the budget for the next programming period, we will now work to reach 10 million more over the next seven years,” she said.

The proposal on the Erasmus + program was presented by the Commission on May 30, 2018, whereas in November 2018, the Council adopted its mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament.

Erasmus was launched 30 years ago and has assisted nearly 10 million people on their studies, work or volunteering abroad.