An evolution, rather than a revolution: this is what Milan Zver MEP (EPP, Slovenia) proposes in his draft report on the Erasmus+ Programme. The main change compared to the European Commission's proposal is to triple (rather than simply double) the programme's budget, with a view to reaching approximately € 45 billion for the period 2021-2027.
The Slovenian assumes, as he explains in his explanatory statement, that "when programmes are successful, changes should be concentrated only where they are really needed". In this context, he welcomes the fact that the Commission's proposal maintains the Programme's structure and seeks to remedy the shortcomings observed during the current programming period (see EUROPE 12030). He therefore welcomes the decision to do without the student loan guarantee mechanism. "Even if the idea was not unreasonable, it is essential to know when the good ideas did not work and to act accordingly", explains Milan Zver, whose main proposal - as mentioned above - is to triple the Erasmus budget, rather than simply double it.
For the rest, he aims to further simplify the programme and make it more inclusive. He proposes, for example, to keep the name "Erasmus+", instead of deleting the small "+" as proposed by the Commission, as people have had time to get used to it. With regard to the inclusiveness of the Programme, he suggested an entire chapter dedicated to this issue. He proposes that Member States develop a national strategy based on a set of parameters and introduces an obligation that individual grants received under the Programme "always cover at least 50% of the additional costs generated by participation in the programme".
And to conclude: "If the Union cannot claim to have 12 million participants by the end of 2027 [the Commission's objective, editor's note], but can honestly say that the Programme is more inclusive and offers high quality opportunities to more people, it can be justifiably proud. The Programme should focus more on quality than quantity.” See the project report on page: https://bit.ly/2yY2qXD. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)