Brussels, 28/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 27 November, the culture and education committee (CULT) at the European Parliament adopted the much awaited report on the new Erasmus for All programme, which will replace the current education, training and youth programmes from 2014. The report maintains the overall structure of the programme and supports the draft budget put forward by the European Commission, but it proposes changing the name of the programme to YES Europe (YES standing for Youth, Education and Sport) and keeping the existing brand names for the different actions. It also changes the guarantee facility for student loans. “I appeal to all those in authority who repeatedly stress the importance of education in their speeches, to do it justice by providing an adequate budget. We will live up to our responsibilities as co-legislators and give the programme the importance it deserves at the heart of European education policy”, said rapporteur Doris Pack (EPP, Germany), who is chair of the CULT committee. The vote of the CULT committee was much awaited by the Council as the Cypriot Presidency had emphasised at the Education Council on 26 November (see EUROPE 10738).
While the overall structure of the programme is maintained, the MEPs have amended the Commission's proposal in order to facilitate the use of a new guarantee facility for loans to master's students, and to simplify the administration of grants. The proposal provides for students who want to continue their studies with a master's degree in another member state to have the possibility to apply for a loan which will be guaranteed from a new facility. For students to qualify for this, the length of their studies must be one to two years in an establishment abroad. The amount of the loan - as voted by the CULT committee - will be up to €12,000 for a master's degree of one year and €18,000 for a master's course of two years. The MEPs also say that this new facility will not replace, but will complement, other student grants or funding mechanisms. Special terms, favourable to students, should apply to loans of this type - for example, reduced interest rates and “periods of grace” for paying off the loan (a minimum of 12 months after the end of the period of study). For the Youth section, the MEPs consider that actions relating to this policy should benefit from specific funding with a separate budget line. They propose a structure based on three sections, with a specific chapter on Youth, in addition to the chapters dedicated to education, training and sport. The MEPs also want the EU to continue to use the current brand names for the different actions of these three sections (including Erasmus, Grundtvig, Comenius and Youth in Action). With regard to the budget, the MEPs support the Commission's proposal to allocate the new programme €19 million but they call for a modernisation of the programmes and administration methods in order to make better use of the proposed amount. Minimum guaranteed thresholds were voted on for each action of the programme - 83.4% for education and training, 8% for youth and 1.8% for sport. The report is due to be adopted in plenary in January 2013. (IL/transl.fl)