Brussels, 22/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - What can we do to ensure that the Erasmus+ programme reaches the 4 million potential beneficiaries in the European Union and beyond? This was the question raised by the S&D group at the European Parliament during a conference in Brussels on 21 October.
According to a European Commission study, Erasmus+ reduces the risks of unemployment, helps find a job in a more international environment and also makes Europe more attractive. The Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee at the European Parliament, (CULT), Silvia Costa (S&D, Italy) welcomed the fact that “the new version of the programme now involves 33 different countries and provides opportunities for mobility to more than 3 million students, teachers, university staff and new graduates (…) These numbers make Erasmus the largest mobility programme for learners in the world, as well as one of the major successes of the European project”. She is calling on all stakeholders to continue to defend the programme and its budget. Petra Kammerevert (Germany), one of the S&D MEPs on the CULT Committee, added: “We took the initiative and dedicated ourselves to gathering political support in the Parliament for a better financed Erasmus+ programme and a new structure while protecting the most important brand names”.
The conference brought together many different participants that exchanged their points of view on the successes and failures of Erasmus+ in comparison to the original programmes (such as Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, Youth in Action, Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius and Grundtvig). They also discussed possibilities for improving implementation of the programme and access for potential beneficiaries. Petra Kammerevert concluded: “This conference was very successful in giving us a lot of food for thought for the upcoming implementation report, as well as the mid-term review planned for December 2017”. (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)