Changes from plenary report to adopted text

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Articles 165 and 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 establishing Erasmus+: the Union Programme for education and training, youth and sport and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013,

– having regard to its resolution of 15 September 2020 on effective measures to ‘green’ Erasmus+, Creative Europe and the European Solidarity Corps,

– having regard to its resolution of 11 November 2021 on the European Education Area: a shared holistic approach,

– having regard to its resolution of 23 November 2021 entitled ‘EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward’,

– having regard to its resolution of 19 May 2022 on establishing the European Education Area by 2025 – micro-credentials, individual learning accounts and learning for a sustainable environment,

– having regard to its resolution of 23 June 2022 on the implementation of inclusion measures within Erasmus+ 2014-2020,

– having regard to the study entitled ‘EU funding programmes 2021-2027 in culture, media, education, youth and sports: first lessons, challenges and future perspectives – Erasmus+’ published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union on 11 September 2023,

– having regard to the study entitled ‘Early implementation of four 2021-2027 EU programmes: Erasmus+, Creative Europe, European Solidarity Corps and Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (Strand 3)’ published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union on 20 July 2023,

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure and Article 1(e) of, and Annex 3 to, the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education (A9-0413/2023),

A. whereas Erasmus+ (‘the programme’) is an EU flagship programme supporting education, training, youth and sport in Europe and beyond;

B. whereas Erasmus+ is crucial in fostering a European sense of belonging and understanding between diverse cultures, enabling the strengthening of a European identity that exists alongside national identities;

C. whereas the 2021-2027 programme has an estimated overall budget of EUR 26.2 billion and places a strong focus on inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life;

D. whereas the European Universities initiative has been much more successful and far-reaching than initially envisaged; whereas the ambition is to have 60 European Universities Alliances involving more than 500 higher education institutions by mid-2024;

E. whereas demand for the programme largely exceeds the available financial resources, negatively affecting participation and the number of projects that can be funded;

F. whereas the programme contributes to reducing inequalities and improving social cohesion and gender equality at European and Member State levels by increasingly focusing on learning mobility that is accessible for all, in particular for people with fewer opportunities and small-scale organisations;

G. whereas inclusion officers play an important role in promoting diversity and inclusion in Erasmus+;

H. whereas the participation of individuals with fewer opportunities, adult learners, young people, third-country nationals and small-scale partnerships and organisations is still hindered by heavy administrative requirements;

I. whereas the programme’s objectives are being pursued through three key actions (KAs), namely ‘Learning mobility of individuals’ (KA1), ‘Cooperation among organisations and institutions’ (KA2) and ‘Support to policy development and cooperation’ (KA3);

J. whereas the rising costs of living, high inflation rates and other challenges are putting additional pressure on the programme’s budget;

K. whereas students with fewer resources face greater obstacles to enjoying Erasmus+ student mobility; whereas the increase in housing rental prices and the scarcity of student accommodation make it difficult for students to find affordable accommodation and the problem has worsened in recent years;

L. whereas uncertainties or delays in the timing of contracting and payments to beneficiaries add to their administrative burden and complicate financial planning, which is particularly detrimental to small organisations and newcomers, thereby undermining the ambitions to achieve inclusion and diversity;

M. whereas the programme has been a driving force for the European Education Area and should continue to respond to future trends in education to keep up with societal and technological change;

N. whereas the professional development of youth workers positively impacts the quality of projects in Erasmus+ and the disparities in youth workers’ status in different Member States hinders the development of projects in the youth sector of the programme;

State of affairs and successes

1. Highlights that the programme focuses on an increasing variety of measures, including lifelong learning, better inclusion of people with fewer opportunities and the removal of barriers to learning mobility, in particular the lack of automatic recognition of qualifications, and financial barriers;

2. Acknowledges that the existing structure works well, successfully bringing together formerly separate programmes, thus providing a good funding ecosystem;

3. Acknowledges the importance of a sufficient variety of actions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach;

4. Values the ‘learning community’ that Erasmus+ has managed to create, made up of participants, beneficiaries, stakeholders, National Agencies (NAs) and EU institutions;

5. Welcomes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the European Education and Culture Executive Agency and NAs; highlights the importance of improving and maintaining a constructive and cooperative communication between these two parties;

6. Expects the memorandum of understanding between the European Education and Culture Executive Agency and NAs to produce tangible improvements, leading to the exchange of good practices and the clarification of roles and responsibilities to achieve consistency, coherence and effective communication by NAs;

7. Points out that learning mobility and small-scale partnerships have proven to be highly effective activities to reach out to the wider public across Europe, providing excellent value for money considering the number of individual participants;

8. Recognises that learning mobility and training of staff is a powerful multiplier for mobility among learners;

9. Is aware that the programme’s horizontal priorities have been very well received by different sectors and stakeholders;

10. Welcomes the ambition to bring about a digital transformation of the programme, and digital learning opportunities;

11. Emphasises that these formats may be used as a valuable complement to physical mobility in specific situations, but do not provide the same quality of experience and benefits, nor do they act as a substitute for meaningful interaction on the ground;

12. Appreciates the steps being taken to increase the amount of green travel and the higher funding rates being paid for more environmentally friendly ways of travelling; encourages even more efforts to achieve this goal, though this should not become a barrier for access to the programme in areas where green options are not yet accessible;

13. Recognises that the new flagship actions have demonstrated their added value;

14. Acknowledges the warm welcome of the European Universities initiative by higher education institutions and its centrality in facilitating efforts to remove obstacles to international cooperation in higher education; highlights that mobility projects, the creation of common curricula and research cooperation between universities in Europe are instrumental to address needs in strategic areas; stresses the importance of the initiative to the European strategy for universities;

15. Welcomes the steps taken towards a joint European degree label and common European diplomas;

16. Welcomes the new opportunities provided by Teacher Academies;

17. Welcomes the newly established Centres of Vocational Excellence and notes that their successful roll-out plays a key role in modernising vocational education and training (VET) provision in Europe;

18. Notes that DiscoverEU, which was initiated by Parliament, has become a well-established, popular and easy-to-access informal learning activity which brings young people, including those with fewer opportunities, closer to the EU, encouraging their future involvement in other EU projects;

19. Highlights that centralised actions in sport managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) proved useful to promote the European dimension in sport; recognises that the introduction of mobility in 2023 as a decentralised action boosts the exchange of sports staff and coaches;

20. Recalls that the 2021-2022 budget absorption was almost 100 % despite a delayed start to the programme;

21. Notes the necessary adjustments owing to the pandemic, with a temporary reduction in funding for learning mobility and increased funding for cooperation and innovation partnerships;

22. Appreciates the swift reaction and enhanced flexibility of the programme to support Ukrainian students, teachers, educators and educational institutions;

23. Notes that some processes for applying have improved, by being made simpler and more efficient;

24. Highlights the very low error rates in comparison with other EU funding programmes, especially considering the programme’s complexity;

25. Highlights that all interested countries meeting the requirements of the programme, including Switzerland and the UK, are welcome to join the programme and thus contribute to European learning mobility; supports the participation of civil society organisations from associated countries;

Challenges and problems

26. Points out that insufficient grants to cover the costs of learning mobility and delays in payments are among the biggest deterrents to participants in mobility projects;

27. Regrets that many young people with fewer opportunities are kept from spending longer periods of time abroad by financial or other obstacles;

28. Acknowledges that the process of NAs drawing up national plans for inclusion and diversity has been difficult;

29. Regrets the fact that complicated administrative processes at all stages considerably hinder the participation of newcomers and small-scale organisations, particularly in the school, youth, VET and sports sectors, as well as in adult education;