Lift-off for EU's EUR 28 bn Erasmus educational programme
Students
(BRUSSELS) - The EU Commission adopted Thursday the first work programme of its Erasmus+ education programme, to fund learning mobility and cross-border cooperation projects for 10 million Europeans of all ages.
With a budget of €26.2 billion, (compared to €14.7 billion for 2014-2020), complemented with about €2.2 billion from EU's external instruments, the new and revamped 2021-2027 programme will seek to be more inclusive and support Europe's green and digital transitions.
Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel invited public and private organisations active in the fields of education, training, youth and sport to look at the newly published calls for proposals and apply for funding.
"The fact that the Erasmus+ budget for the next seven years has almost doubled shows the importance given to education, lifelong learning and youth in Europe," she said: "Erasmus+ remains a unique programme in terms of its size, scope and global recognition, covering 33 countries, and accessible to the rest of the world through its international activities."
Today's adoption of the annual work programme paves the way for the first calls for proposals under the new Erasmus+, also published today. Any public or private body active in the fields of education, training, youth and sport can apply for funding, with the help of Erasmus+ national agencies based in all EU Member States and third countries associated to the programme.
The new Erasmus+ programme provides opportunities for study periods abroad, traineeships, apprenticeships, and staff exchanges in all fields of education, training, youth and sport. It is open to school pupils, higher education and vocational education and training students, adult learners, youth exchanges, youth workers and sport coaches.
In addition to mobility, which counts for 70% of the budget, the new Erasmus+ also invests in cross-border cooperation projects. These can be between higher education institutions (e.g. the European Universities initiative); schools; teacher education and training colleges (e.g. Erasmus+ Teacher Academies); adult learning centres; youth and sport organisations; providers of vocational education and training (e.g. Vocational Centres of Excellence); and other actors in the learning sphere.