With the European Commission’s draft regulation for Erasmus+ for the 2028-34 budget period published, what can higher education institutions expect? And what does the future hold for the European Universities alliances?
The draft foresees a budget of €40.8 billion over the seven-year multiannual financial framework (MFF), a substantial 50 per cent increase from the 2021-27 budget of €26.2bn. Even with this significant increase, it may be challenging to build on annual funding levels foreseen for 2027, when spending increases under the current MFF are set to peak. Thus, €40.8bn looks to be the absolute minimum the sector needs.
Unfortunately, there is no breakdown of the global figure proposed for the budget. Given that Erasmus+ covers education and training, youth and sport, it is impossible to say whether—and to what extent—the overall budget increase will translate to funding for higher education.
Currently, higher education receives around 35 per cent of the education and training budget, which itself gets 83 per cent of Erasmus+ funding. A change in allocations within the programme could have a significant impact on universities.
Fixed or flexible?
A key question is whether internal budget allocations will be added into the regulation, during negotiations with the Council and the European Parliament, or left to the annual Work Programmes. It is also unclear how Work Programmes will be agreed from one year to the next.
Flexible budget allocations from one year to the next would align with the Commission’s desire to increase its room for manoeuvre. However, higher education—not least students—need to be able to plan. If students choose a university place because of a particular international mobility option, it must be clear whether, two years down the line, they have a realistic chance of an Erasmus+ grant.
While the contents of the two future pillars of Erasmus+—mobility and capacity building—remain unclear, the proposal’s framing, priorities and scope are significant. Critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills are emphasised, as is the need for Erasmus+ to strengthen ‘democratic citizenship’.
Given the Commission leadership’s sharp focus on competitiveness, this underlining of the wider importance of education is both highly welcome and not to be taken for granted.
Alliances preserved
At the same time, three other priorities emerge clearly: supporting the Union of Skills and encouraging students in critical economic sectors; strengthening the programme’s inclusiveness; and ensuring that “all people…have the opportunity to participate in a mobility experience from an early age”.
How the Commission will navigate between these ambitious, concrete objectives and the wider goals of Erasmus+ is not clear. Even with a budget topping €40bn, some difficult choices may be needed.
European universities alliances, the flagship innovation of the current programme, will remain within Erasmus+. But it appears that alliances will also be able to attract funding from other sources.
One such source is the European Competitiveness Fund, which is set to fund skills and talent development. Horizon Europe could also provide additional support through the European Research Area. It will be interesting to explore how alliances could strengthen the ERA.
Open to the world
One important innovation is the proposal for Erasmus+ to copy Horizon Europe’s provisions for association by third countries anywhere in the world. This could lead to a remarkable geographical expansion of the programme, significantly strengthening its global impact.
This also leads to the final big question, of the extent to which Global Europe, the new fund for the EU’s external activities, will fund international collaboration in education, and indeed research. There are provisions for this in both the draft Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe regulations.
Indeed, funding from Global Europe for collaboration in education and research is crucial for Europe’s ambitions to be a reliable partner in an increasingly fractured and volatile world. It is critical for the impact of the MFF, and for Europe’s global standing, that universities are enabled to build bridges where others tear them down.
The plans for Erasmus+ should be welcomed in their outline form. The regulation comes at a time of huge pressure for the Commission, and the insistence on inclusiveness, mobility, and the programme’s huge value for Europe and beyond are critical, as is the additional funding proposed.
In the forthcoming political discussions, it will be important to insist that in the implementation, the core strengths of Erasmus+, such as its long-term support for competences and all students from all disciplinary domains, and its focus on strategic partnerships and mobility, are strengthened further.
At the same time, the MFF invites the sector—and national regulators—to see how we can learn from each other and respond to a fast-changing economic and cultural environment, building on our strengths across all disciplines. To help us achieve both, we must insist vocally on the budget proposed.
This article was originally published in Research Professional.
Jan Palmowski
Secretary-General of The Guild – A contemporary historian, he started his career at the University of Oxford before moving to King’s College London where he taught European politics and EU integration. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Warwick from 2013 to 2017. In this blog space, Prof. Palmowski engages with some of the wider questions around research, education, innovation and the EU. The views expressed here are his and not those of The Guild.