The chairwoman of the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education is concerned about the Finnish proposals for the 2021-2027 EU budget (see EUROPE 12384/10). In a statement published ahead of the European Summit on Thursday 12 December, Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) stressed that these proposals could have a significant impact on Erasmus, Creative Europe and the European Solidarity Corps.
It is her parliamentary committee that is currently negotiating with the EU Council and the European Commission on the structure of these three programmes, i.e. everything related to them, except the amounts of the available budgets. But these discussions on the framework of the programmes have not been successful either.
Status of off-budget negotiations
The most advanced negotiations are those related to the European Solidarity Corps, which allows young people aged 18 to 30 to participate in a range of solidarity activities within the EU (through voluntary actions, internships or fixed-term employment) or outside the EU (humanitarian volunteering) (see EUROPE 12366/25). As with Erasmus and Creative Europe, the co-legislators here are once again arguing over the issue of governance, i.e. the use of implementing or delegated acts. The European Parliament is calling for the latter option, because it is the one that gives it the most influence.
Each programme is negotiated separately, even if some provisions are common: this is the case, for example, of the inclusion of "people with fewer opportunities" negotiated in parallel for Erasmus and the Solidarity Corps.
According to our information, Erasmus and Creative Europe have both been the subject of 3 negotiation meetings so far. Parliament would have liked assurances on the breakdown of the budget for Erasmus, the EU's mobility programme, but the Finnish Presidency, representing the EU Council, opposed it. Nor did the negotiators discuss the issue of the inclusion of sports professionals in the scope of the programme, as requested by Parliament. On the Creative Europe programme, which concerns the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors, one of the open questions concerns the music sector.
Warnings from Sabine Verheyen
The financial envelope available for these programmes is discussed in the context of the general negotiations on the multiannual financial framework. However, even if her committee is not directly involved, Sabine Verheyen points out that Parliament is calling for a tripling of Erasmus funds and a doubling of those of Creative Europe over those provided for in the current programming period. She also calls for the European Commission to be followed for the European Solidarity Corps envelope.
However, "although we have so far had no figures for any of the education, culture and youth programmes, we have calculated the figures and the picture is bleak", notes the chairwoman of the parliamentary committee, suggesting an average reduction of 20% in the three programmes compared to what the European Commission was proposing. This is "48% [less] for Erasmus compared to Parliament's proposal and 53% for Creative Europe", she said, describing this trend as "worrying". (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)