Continuation of ongoing learning mobility activities under the Erasmus+ programme in the context of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU

The European Parliament adopted by 651 votes to 9, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down provisions for the continuation of ongoing learning mobility activities under the Erasmus+ programme in the context of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“United Kingdom”) from the European Union.

The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure without amending the Commission proposal.

The proposal sets out contingency measures for the Erasmus+ programme in the event of a no-deal Brexit (i.e. the UK leaving the Union on 29 March 2019 without a withdrawal agreement in place).

It aims to enable people participating in the Erasmus+ programme to continue their exchange programme without interruption, without losing credits and with continued financial support.

To allow the ongoing mobility activities to continue to be financed from the Union budget, the Commission and the United Kingdom should agree to allow controls and audits of their respective activities to be carried out. The inability to carry out the necessary controls and audits would be considered a serious deficiency in the management and control system.

The Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from the day following the day on which the Treaties cease to apply in the United Kingdom, unless a withdrawal agreement with the United Kingdom has entered into force on that date.

Parliament has introduced an amendment to clarify that, in view of the urgency of the procedure, it was considered appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.