The negotiations about the Erasmus+ programme for the 2021-27 period enter the next round. In its second session after the elections the CULT committee (committee on education and culture) voted in favour of entering into negotiations with the EU Council on the future Erasmus programme.
During the previous months, the European Commission’s proposal had been discussed in the committee. The committee members agreed on a number of significant changes. The European Parliament in its first reading on 28 March 2019 then approved the committee’s amended text. One major resolution is to triple the Erasmus+ budget for this programme period instead of doubling it as suggested by the European Commission. Furthermore, the deputies want to make the programme more inclusive foreseeing specials funds to allow people with fewer opportunities or disabilities to participate in Erasmus+ funded projects. Also, the Parliament emphasizes the possibility of online encounters becoming an additional component of the programme where personal encounters are not possible for various reasons but without replacing them. Particularly interesting to all those wanting to apply for funds is that the European Parliament claims a simplification of the application and report processes.
Now after the first reading in Parliament, it is up to the Council of the European Union, that is to say the member state’s ministers for education, to deliberate about the legislative text. Find the Parliament’s adopted text here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2019-0111_EN.html?redirect
