On Tuesday 13 June, the European Parliament celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus + programme. At this event, several figures took to the rostrum at the European Parliament to express their support for this programme. The question of the budget was broadly mentioned by the speakers.
This “commemoration” also provided an opportunity for the Commission to present its “Erasmus +” mobile application that is supposed to facilitate the administrative aspects of the programmed for participants throughout their stay. It is exactly a month ago that the Commission presented a virtual “Generation Erasmus” meeting (see EUROPE 11783), which provided a forum for events, discussions and group activities in tandem with the Erasmus + programme.
Underpinning the budget
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker stated, “I therefore have only one message on the future: while we are celebrating the 9 millionth young Erasmus participant, we can be nine times more ambitious together because Erasmus is a good response to the stupidity of national selfishness and insularity”. He added that, “Erasmus is a Europe that is full of promise and a confident, united Europe that is decisively orientated towards the future. I am therefore counting on you to ensure that the European budget is one that matches the level of talent of our youth”.
Earlier, during a press conference, the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, also expressed his expectations regarding the European budget that, “should include funds for financing the Erasmus + programme and include a grants programme for young students”. He even went as far as suggesting that they set up an Erasmus programme for young farmers on the basis of funding available for the Common Agricultural Policy.
The President of the Parliamentary committee in charge of culture and education, Petra Kammerevert (S&D, Germany), said that the Erasmus + budget should be twice as high as it currently is (€30 billion instead of the €14.7 billion currently planned).
Brexit
The President of the European Parliament also briefly mentioned the United Kingdom leaving the EU. He said that, “The future of collaboration is part of the negotiations. If the United Kingdom had remained within the EU, there would not be a problem for Scottish students”. His colleague, Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium), in charge of negotiations for the European Parliament expressed his wish to see “the United Kingdom remain within Erasmus”.
The ceremony included 33 participants in the Erasmus + programme, one for each of the participating countries. It should be recalled that in addition to the 28 member states of the Union, the Erasmus + programme includes Turkey, Macedonia, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)