European Education Ministers unanimously support updating and strengthening the Erasmus + programme after 2020. During their meeting in Brussels on Thursday 15 February, they did, nonetheless, display a certain amount of division on the means of reaching this goal.
The Erasmus + programme covers education, training, youth and sport. It has a budget of €14.7 billion for the 2014-20 period and provides opportunities for study periods, trainee placements and apprenticeships for higher education students and those in professional training. On 14 February, the European Commission suggested that it could prove useful to double, indeed, triple this amount in the next budget framework (2021-2027). According to the Commission, doubling the funding would help 7.5% of young people throughout Europe and tripling this figure would, “give one out of three young people an opportunity for taking part in an Erasmus + learning experience abroad”.
The European Commissioner, Tibor Navracsics, stated, “We are at a key moment and we need to think about the future of the programme, particularly because our goal is to create a European education area”. He concluded, “We have to set ourselves a clear direction in preparing our proposals".
Although barely 10 ministers attended (the others were represented), every single one of the delegations emphasised the added value of the Erasmus + programme. The majority of them also called for a simplification of procedures and an expansion in the professional education programme. Italy also called for the programme to cover secondary school students. The Netherlands and Croatia were also in favour of short exchanges, while Finland suggested opening up the programme to young graduates who left education five years ago.
On the question of funding, the vast majority of delegations supported an increase in resources. Italy and Belgium appealed for the funds to be doubled, Spain said that the current envelope should be multiplied by 10, while Malta, Romania, Finland, Slovakia and Cyprus did not put forward any figures. The Austrian Federal Minister, Heinz Fassmann, stated, "A bigger budget is always good but how are we going to do this?” He then called on the delegations to promote this tool in their respective member states and schools. The German Secretary of State, Georg Schutte, called for European Social Fund (ESF) allocations to be earmarked, as well as national funds within the Erasmus + programme, stressing that there should be no competition between the different tools used, "Erasmus + must be strengthened through the ESF”.
It should also be pointed out that the United Kingdom spoke to highlight its wish to continue its cooperation with the EU in the education area. Nick Gibb, the deputy minister stated, "We want cooperation between the EU and United Kingdom to continue and be strengthened”. He also emphasised that under the terms of the agreement of 8 December, the United Kingdom would participate until 2020 (the end of the current financial framework) in the Erasmus + programme. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)