In view of the many contemporary economic, social and geopolitical challenges facing the European Union, on Tuesday 18 February the Commission launched a debate on the next programming phase for the Erasmus+ andEuropean Solidarity Corps programmes after 2027.
At a conference in Brussels, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) brought together a number of stakeholders involved in these initiatives to assess their future development.
The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Social Rights and Skills, Roxana Mînzatu, and the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, were invited to share their perspectives on adapting these programmes to the challenges of the future.
In her speech, Roxana Mînzatu noted the key role played byErasmus+ in the European education landscape, in European integration and in cooperation in education and training: “Erasmus is crucial for Europe's DNA, for our identity. It is a dream, a possibility, but it still does shape the, let's say, the careers and futures of the young people, but also the skills, the cooperation, the policies that we design in Europe to make education better, to embed Culture and Sports into our European social model”.
However, according to the Commission's executive vice-president, the scope of the programme needs to be broadened to include more adults, as this could “support European identity and the skills of adults in Europe”.
The Vice-President also spoke about the presentation of the ‘Union of Skills’ initiative on 5 March: “We will present this vision, four pillars that are extremely, I think, relevant and for which we really need a stronger Erasmus. One is the creation of basic skills.
A challenge regarding simplification and financing. Glenn Micallef, for his part, shared his personal experience of previous programmes, which involved a great deal of red tape, to address the issue of simplifying procedures.
He acknowledged the progress made thanks to digitisation, but claimed that further efforts were needed to make programmes more accessible.
With this in mind, the European Commissioner also encouraged active participation in the public consultation, open until 7 May, to gather feedback on how the EU budget should support education, training, solidarity and youth (https://aeur.eu/f/fjy ).
On the subject of funding, the European Commissioner called for an ambitious budget for Erasmus+ and the ‘European Solidarity Corps’, at a time when discussions are beginning on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)(see other news): “We will make a team to champion and really push for the strongest possible budget for these programs that citizens have grown fond of, that they relate that they consider a priority for them. We all know the realities we face [...] The next budget is a discussion which has just started [...] We want a simpler, more impactful, and more focused budget. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)