Today, the higher education community is calling for a budget of €60 billion for the next seven-year Erasmus+ Programme.
In a joint statement, EURASHE, the European University Association, the European Students’ Union and other higher education associations argue that the budget proposed by the European Commission in July last year (€40.8 billion) is not sufficient to meet the ambitions of the programme. Given that several high-level reports and the European Commission itself recognise the crucial importance of education and skills for both competitiveness and cohesion, the value of the programme stretches far beyond the education itself, helping to strengthen the European economy and society at large.
The Erasmus+ Programme is part of the proposed Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union for 2028-2034. EURASHE itself published a reaction to the MFF last October, which included an assessment of the proposals for Erasmus+ as well Horizon Europe and the Cohesion Policy. We continue to highlight the importance of practice base higher education and research for an innovative, inclusive and resilient Europe, and over the coming months we will work with policy makers and partners to argue for amendments to the proposed regulations.
