Erasmus+

Erasmus+ is the European Commission's Programme for education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014–2020. As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for mobility of learners and staff and cooperation across the education, training and youth sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules and a structure which aims to streamline the administration of the programme.^[1]

Introduction

The Erasmus+ Programme 2014–2020 was established by Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing 'Erasmus+': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions No 1719/2006/EC, No 1720/2006/EC and No 1298/2008/EC.

Erasmus+ replaces several previous EU programmes, covering all sectors of education: the Lifelong Learning Programme which had four sub-programmes - Erasmus (higher education), Leonardo da Vinci (vocational education), Comenius (school education), Grundtvig (adult education) - Youth in Action, and five international programmes (Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa, Edulink and the programme for cooperation with industrialised countries). For the first time, Erasmus+ also offers EU support for sport, particularly at grassroots' level.

The Programme is open to students, apprentices, teachers, lecturers, young people, volunteers, youth workers and people working in grassroots' sport. Approximately two-thirds of the budget is allocated to learning opportunities abroad for individuals, within the EU and beyond; the remainder will support partnerships between educational institutions, youth organisations, businesses, local and regional authorities and NGOs, as well as reforms to modernise education, training and youth systems.^[2]

Furthermore, Erasmus+ provides, for the first time, EU funding for sport, supporting grassroots projects and cross-border challenges such as combating match-fixing, doping, violence and racism, and promoting, for example, good governance, gender equality, social inclusion, dual careers and physical activity for all. The Programme will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad and will support over 125,000 institutions and organisations to work with peers in other countries to innovate and modernise teaching practice and youth work.

Objectives

The Erasmus+ Programme shall contribute to the achievement of:

the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, including the headline education target ;
the objectives of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020), including the corresponding benchmarks;
the sustainable development of Partner Countries in the field of higher education;
the overall objectives of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010–2018);
the objective of developing the European dimension in sport, in particular grassroots sport, in line with the EU work plan for sport;
the promotion of European values in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.

Actions supported

In order to achieve its objectives, the Erasmus+ Programme implements the following Actions:

Key Action 1 – Mobility of individuals

This Key Action supports:

Mobility of learners and staff
Joint Master Degrees
Master Student Loan Guarantee

Key Action 2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

This Key Action supports:

Strategic Partnerships
Knowledge Alliances
Sector Skills Alliances
Capacity Building projects supporting cooperation with Partner Countries in the fields of higher education and youth.
IT support platforms, such as eTwinning, the European Platform for Adult Learning (EPALE) and the European Youth Portal.

Key Action 3 – Support for policy reform

This Key Action supports:

Knowledge in the fields of education, training and youth for evidence-based policy making and monitoring in the framework of Europe 2020
Prospective initiatives
Support to European policy tools
Cooperation with international organisations
Stakeholder dialogue, policy and Programme promotion

Jean Monnet Activities

The Jean Monnet Activities support:

Academic Modules, Chairs, Centres of Excellence
Policy debate with academic world, supported through Networks and Projects
Support to institutions and associations
Studies and conferences

Sport

Actions in the field of sport support:

Collaborative Partnerships
Not-for-profit European sport events
Strengthening of the evidence base for policy making
Dialogue with relevant European stakeholders
Support to Sport Presidency events

Programme implementation

The management of the Programme is to a large extent decentralised to a network of "national agencies", nominated by the programme countries. All individual mobility schemes and strategic partnerships are funded through these agencies. A number of projects (such as Knowledge Alliances or Sector Skills Alliances) is handled centrally by the European Commission through its Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency – a public agency funded by the Commission and operating on its behalf.

Funding

The seven year programme has a budget of €14.7 billion, which represents a 40% increase compared to previous spending levels and shows the EU's commitment to investing in these areas. According to the Regulation of the Programme, the overall budget is allocated to the different actions as follows, with a margin of flexibility not exceeding 5% of each of the allocated amounts:

77,5 % to education and training, from which the following minimum allocations shall be assigned:
- 43% to higher education, representing 33,3 % of the total budget;
- 22% to vocational education and training, representing 17% of the total budget;
- 15% to school education, representing 11,6 % of the total budget;
- 5% to adult learning, representing 3,9 % of the total budget;
10% to youth;
3,5 % to the Student Loan Guarantee Facility;
1,9 % to Jean Monnet;
1,8 % to sport
3,4 % as operating grants to national agencies; and
1,9 % to cover administrative expenditure.

Of the allocations referred to for education and training and youth, at least 63% shall be allocated to learning mobility of individuals, at least 28% to cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices and 4,2 % to support for policy reform.

References

External links

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