PURPOSE: to establish the programme "Erasmus for All" for the period 2014-20, bringing together the Lifelong Learning, Youth in Action and Erasmus Mundus programmes.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
BACKGROUND: the Commission adopted a proposal for a multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2014-2020 establishing the budget for the Europe 2020 strategy. In its proposal, the Commission points out that there is scope to increase Union support to education and training in order to raise citizens' skills and help tackle the high levels of youth unemployment in many Member States.
The Commission also stresses that in its external actions, it will:
· concentrate on promoting and defending Union values abroad ;
· promote assistance to transitional and democratic processes and
· project the external dimension of internal policies.
Accordingly, it proposes this programme.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: four impact assessments examined the operation of three existing programmes in education, training and youth field (namely Lifelong Learning Programme, Youth in Action and Erasmus Mundus) and, in the case of sport, preparatory actions voted by the Budgetary Authority.
Given the similarity of objectives, legal base and Union competencies in these fields, each impact assessment considers similar options:
· Option 1: discontinuing the existing actions or programmes;
· Option 2: continuing them in their current form;
· Option 3: substantially strengthening their policy focus; and
· Option 4: bringing together the Lifelong Learning, Youth in Action and Erasmus Mundus programmes into a single, streamlined Programme.
The preferred option identified in each of the four impact assessments is the merger into a single programme (Option 4|). This option is the most coherent and cost-effective.
LEGAL BASIS: Articles 165(4) and 166(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
CONTENT: the Commission proposes to establish a programme for Union action in the field of education, training, youth and sport called "Erasmus for All" for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.
The programme covers education at all levels, in a lifelong learning perspective, in particular higher education, vocational education and training and adult learning, school education and youth.
It includes an international dimension and will also support activities in the field of sport.
European added value: the Programme shall only support those actions and activities presenting a potential European added value which shall be ensured in particular through:
· their transnational character, in particular transnational mobility and cooperation aiming at long-term systemic impact;
· their complementarity and synergy with other national, international and other Union programmes and policies, allowing for economies of scale and critical mass;
· their contribution to the effective use of Union tools for recognition of qualifications and transparency.
General objective of the Programme: the Programme aims to contribute to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy and of the education and training strategic framework 2020 (ET2020), including the corresponding benchmarks established in those instruments, to renewed framework for European Cooperation in the Youth field (2010-2018), to the sustainable development of third countries in the field of higher education and to developing the European dimension in sport.
It particularly aims to contribute to reach the following Europe 2020 headline targets:
(i) education of early school leaving rates; (ii) increase of 30-34 years old students having completed third level of education.
Structure of the programme: the "Erasmus for all" programme focuses on three types of key actions:
1. the transnational and international learning mobility of students, young people, teachers and staff;
2. the cooperation for innovation and good practices between education institutions, as well as through cooperation with bodies active in the youth field and
3. support to the policy agendas, as well as the support to capacity building in third countries, including enlargement countries, with a particular focus on neighbouring countries and the international policy dialogue.
Excellence in teaching and research in European studies is covered through a specific article on "Jean Monnet".
A chapter is dedicated to sport focusing on the fight against doping, violence and racism and fostering transnational activities to promote good governance of sport organisations.
Details of the priorities and the specific actions in these fields are set out in the proposal.
Funding: Erasmus for all will integrate existing international programmes (Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Edulink and Alfa) and cooperation programmes with industrialised countries. To this end, the budget of the Programme will be complemented by financial allocations coming from the different external cooperation instruments. Funds will be made available on the basis of two multi-annual allocations covering 4 and 3 years respectively to ensure stability and predictability. These allocations should reflect the EU external action priorities, including development objectives as appropriate. They can be adjusted in case of major unforeseen circumstances or important political changes to reflect major shifts in policy priorities.
A new financial instrument – a loan guarantee facility - is introduced to enable students to take their Masters degree in another European country. Finance for such studies is currently difficult to obtain because national grants and loans are frequently not portable across national boundaries, or are not available for studies at Masters level, and loans from private banks are prohibitively expensive. To overcome these problems, the EU will provide a partial guarantee to financial institutions (banks or student loan agencies), which agree to offer loans for Masters' studies in other participating countries on favourable terms for the students.
Management: the programme will be managed in accordance with the principle of the indirect management. Responsibilities will be shared between Members States and the Commission. National Agencies will be in charge of the main part of the funds, most of those allocated to mobility actions and cooperation. The Commission will delegate to an Executive Agency the management of larger cooperation projects, policy support, the Eurydice network, as well as Jean Monnet activities and sport. The Commission may therefore use, on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis, the existing executive agency for the implementation of "Erasmus for All" programme for the period 2014-2020.
It will also adopt annual work programmes by way of implementing acts in order to implement the programme.
Simplification: one of the priority of this programme is to emphasise streamlining, simplification and a performance-based allocation of funds. This approach is applied by basing it on the rules of the Financial Regulation.
In this regard, the programme will:
· reduce the number of activities supported;
· use more flat rate grants to increase efficiency (particularly for mobility actions).
National Agencies will no longer manage individual mobility and thereby reducing the administrative workload. National Agencies will become the main entry point for learning mobility activities, open to young people whether they participate as student, trainee or volunteer. The user-friendliness will also be enhanced for participating higher education institutions at international level, by the integration of disparate international cooperation programmes.
Effectiveness: the programme contains a clause on monitoring and evaluation so that it may be regularly monitored against its objectives using performance related indicators. In addition to the continuing monitoring, the Commission shall establish an evaluation report no later than end 2017 in order to assess the effectiveness in achieving the objectives, the efficiency of the programme and its European added value, in view of a decision on the renewal, modification or suspension of the programme.
The Commission, in cooperation with Member States, shall ensure overall consistency and complementarity with the relevant Union policies, in particular those in the fields of culture and the media, employment, health, research and innovation, enterprise, justice, consumer, development and cohesion policy and with other relevant Union funding sources in these fields.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS : the Commission's proposal for a Multi-Annual Financial Framework for the period 2014-2020 provides for EUR 17 299 million (current prices) for a Single programme on Education, Training, Youth and Sport and an additional amount coming from heading 4 instruments, corresponding to EUR 1 812 100 000 (current prices) from the different external instruments (Development Cooperation Instrument, European Neighbourhood Instrument, Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, Partnership Instrument and the European development Fund),,
Division of financial envelope by policy action:
(a) EUR 16 741 738 000 for actions in the field of education, training and youth;
(b) EUR 318 435 000 for the Jean Monnet activities;
(c) EUR 238 827 000 for actions relating to sport.
Minimum allocation of funds per sector: in order to ensure that the funding levels allocated to the main categories of stakeholders and beneficiaries will not be reduced below the levels guaranteed by the Lifelong Learning, Youth in Action and Erasmus Mundus programmes for the 2007-2013 period, the implementation of the programme shall not result in an allocation to main education sectors less than:
· higher education: 25% ;
· vocational education and training and adult learning: 17%, of which adult learning: 2%;
· school education: 7%;
· youth: 7%.
DELEGATED ACTS: the proposal also introduces delegating powers based on Article 290 TFEU. The use of this new legal instrument is limited to the amendment of the provisions relating to the performance criteria and on the actions managed by the National Agencies.
When adopting implementing measures, in particular that referring to the allocation of funds, the Regulation provides for the application of the examination procedure according to provisions set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
Selection decisions will still be sent to European Parliament and Committee for information.