EU Announces New Erasmus+ Call for Proposals With a Record Budget of €384 Million

The European Commission has announced the fourth Erasmus+ call for proposals in support of the European Universities initiative, a program aiming, among other things, to strengthen collaborations between European universities.

In a statement posted on its website, the EU Commission states that the budget for the 2023 call is €384 million. The call will remain open until January 31, next year, and individual universities or colleges will be able to join the existing alliances, Erudera.com reports.

According to the statement, the call offers sustainable funding to strengthen transnational institutional cooperation between higher education institutions, such as those selected under the Erasmus+ 2020 European Universities call but also to strengthen opportunities to build new alliances.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said that through the European Universities program, the EU aims to support cooperation between universities across Europe and thus create a better and inclusive future for the next generations.

“I see the European Universities as important drivers for sustained growth, entrepreneurship and quality jobs in our regions, and with this Erasmus+ call we can give another strong push towards open and connected European campuses, where mobility and cooperation experiences are an integral part of every higher education programme,” Gabriel said.

Meanwhile, Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for the European way of life, said he believes alliances selected through this Erasmus+ call will also help the higher education sector and push boundaries in students’ favor.

EU Commission also announced that the full partnership would open up to Western Balkans universities.

“Following the 2019, 2020, and 2022 Erasmus+ calls, the current 44 European Universities alliances gather 340 higher education institutions across Europe, bringing together a new generation of Europeans who are able to cooperate and work in different languages and across borders, sectors and academic disciplines,” the statement reads.

The European Universities initiative was introduced with the main goal of creating a European Education Area by 2025. The Commission further highlights the objective of the European strategy to support 60 European universities involving over 500 higher education institutions by mid-2023, for which a budget of €1.1 billion is expected to be allocated under 2021-2027 Erasmus+ to support these universities.

Previously, an Erasmus call for proposals was announced to test the partnership between higher education institutions in the EU and the joint EU degree label. For that call, the EU Commission allocated a total budget of €2 million.