Brussels, 16/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, officially launched the new Erasmus+ programme in Athens on 16 January. Constantine Arvanitopoulos, Minister for Education, and Panos Panayiotopoulos, Minister for Culture and Sports, representing the Greek EU Presidency, also attended the programme launch. The commissioner was pleased to explain that Erasmus+ will allow more people to benefit from obtaining experience abroad. She also highlighted the need to improve the quality of education and stated: “We also need to invest more to improve the quality of education and training at all levels so we are a match for the best in the world and so that we can deliver more jobs and higher growth. Erasmus+ is all the more important at a time when many countries, including Greece, are facing very high levels of youth unemployment”. Four million people will be able to benefit from an EU grant to study, train, and obtain work experience or do voluntary work abroad over the next seven years, double the current figure. Erasmus+ will have a total budget of €14.7 billion, 40% more than previous programmes. (IL/transl.fl)