The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing Erasmus+: the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013.
The proposed regulation establishes Erasmus+, the Union's action programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027.
Programme’s objectives
The programme is a key instrument for (i) the establishment of a European education area; (ii) supporting the implementation of European strategic cooperation in the field of education and training; (iii) developing cooperation in the field of youth policy in the framework of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, and (iv) developing the European dimension in sport.
The overall objective of the programme is to support, through lifelong learning, the educational, vocational and personal development of individuals in the fields of education and training, youth and sport, in Europe and beyond. It will thus contribute to sustainable growth, quality employment, social cohesion, the development of innovation and the strengthening of European identity and active citizenship.
The programme will only support actions and activities that have a potential European added value.
Key actions
The regulation sets out specific objectives for each of the programme's three fields of action (education and training, youth and sport). Each of these three areas is structured around three key actions: ‘learning mobility’ (key action 1), ‘cooperation between organisations and institutions’ (key action 2) and ‘support for policy development and cooperation’ (key action 3).
The Council's position integrates the three ‘new initiatives’ proposed by the Commission, namely European universities, centres of professional excellence and DiscoverEU, into the new programme. The programme also covers mobility of adult learners for education and training purposes, as well as activities in the field of vocational education and training (VET).
Budget
The financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for the period 2021-2027 is set at EUR 24 574 000 000 in current prices, plus an additional allocation of EUR 1 700 000 000 at 2018 prices.
The indicative breakdown of the amount is as follows:
- EUR 20 396 420 000 (83%) for actions in the field of education and training: actions in the field of higher education, vocational education and training, school education, adult education, Jean Monnet actions, as well as the flexibility margin that can be used to support all actions;
- EUR 2 531 122 000 (10.3%) for actions in the field of youth: actions in the field of sport, contribution to the running costs of the National Agencies and programme support.
In addition, the Commission commits to allocate an indicative amount of EUR 400 million in current prices to support the platforms of the Centres of Professional Excellence for the duration of the programme, provided that the interim evaluation of the programme confirms a positive assessment of the results of the action.
Inclusion strategy
The Commission should ensure, where appropriate, that financial support measures are put in place to facilitate the participation of people with fewer opportunities, in particular those whose participation is prevented for financial reasons. No later than six months after the date of entry into force of the Regulation, the Commission will develop a framework of inclusion measures to increase the participation rates of people with fewer opportunities.
Governance
The programme will be implemented through the work programmes. The work programmes will contain an indication of the amount allocated to each action and the distribution of funds between the Member States and the third countries associated with the programme for actions managed through the National Agencies. The Commission will adopt the work programmes by means of implementing acts.
An annex to the regulation contains a detailed description of the actions supported by the programme. The Commission may adopt delegated acts to amend the annex by adding to the description of the actions, if necessary, in order to adapt to developments in the fields concerned.
The indicators for reporting on the progress of the programme towards the overall objective of the programme and its specific objectives are set out in Annex II to the Regulation.