Erasmus+ programme 2028–2034

The European Parliament adopted by 454 votes to 34, with 93 abstentions, amendments to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2028-2034.

The matter was referred back to the committee responsible for interinstitutional negotiations.

The main amendments adopted in plenary are as follows:

Programme objectives

The programme should aim to promote high-quality, inclusive lifelong learning and thus contribute to a resilient, competitive, and cohesive Europe. It should:

- emphasise mobility for education and training purposes and to be an essential instrument for furthering the development of the European Education Area, responding to future trends in education in order to conform to societal and technological developments and building the Union of Skills;

- foster a European sense of belonging and understanding between diverse cultures, enabling the strengthening of a European identity that exists alongside national identities.

The programme should strengthen the European dimension of sport, which plays a vital role as a driver of social inclusion, health, education, and community development. It should support the educational and training mobility of athletes and those active in grassroots sport, as well as the educational and training mobility of sports personnel.

In the field of youth and volunteering, the programme should support: (a) learning mobility of young people, including youth exchanges, DiscoverEU, activities supporting youth participation and the learning mobility of youth workers; (b) European Solidarity Corps volunteering and solidarity activities; (c) the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps.

Learning mobility should be accompanied by support to teaching and learning about the Union, including European integration, values and citizenship.

European added value

The programme should support only those actions and activities which present European added value. The European added value of the actions and activities of the programme should be ensured, for example, through their: (i) transnational character, particularly with regard to learning mobility and cooperation aimed at achieving a sustainable systemic impact; (ii) complementarity and synergies with other programmes and policies at national, Union and international level; (iii) contribution to the effective use of Union transparency and recognition tools.

Erasmus+ scholarships

The programme should support Erasmus+ scholarships in strategic educational fields, for the study period abroad in joint study programmes, when co-funded from additional resources or a Union contribution from another programme; the monthly funding amount for these scholarships from Erasmus+ should be limited to the maximum monthly amount of mobility grants so as not to reduce funding available for learning mobility, inclusion measures and transnational cooperation under the programme.

The strategic educational fields eligible for support should be defined on the basis of transparent criteria, evidence of Union-level skills needs. The Union’s investment in those scholarships should be proportionate and designed to maximise its added value for the Union, while avoiding outcomes that would contribute to brain drain from the Union.

Inclusion and diversity

When implementing this regulation, the Commission, Member States and third countries associated to the programme should ensure an inclusive approach across all activities, paying particular attention to equal opportunities, accessibility and the removal of social, economic, geographical and structural barriers to participation. At least 20% of all mobility participants shall be individuals with fewer opportunities.

The Commission may adjust or may authorise the national agencies to adjust, on the basis of objective and transparent criteria, the financial support mechanisms to improve access to people with fewer opportunities. Such criteria should take into account: (i) differences in living costs, housing costs, inflation and purchasing power between host countries, regions and cities; (iii) higher participation costs for individuals travelling from or to outermost regions, island territories, and overall expensive-to-reach locations.

Budget

Members propose setting the budget for the programme for the implementation of the regulation for the period 2028-2034 at EUR 47 387 963 000 in current prices, compared to the EUR 40 827 000 000 proposed by the Commission.

Budgetary envelopes are clearly defined for the different areas of action: education and training (74.6% of the total programme budget), higher education (35%), vocational education and training (21.5%), school education (15.5%), youth and volunteering (15%) and sport (4.1%).

Funding

The programme should be implemented in synergy with other Union programmes and funds, such as the European Competitiveness Fund, Horizon Europe, Global Europe, National and Regional Partnership Plans and funding delivered through them such as the European Social Fund and the Youth Guarantee.

Lastly, the programme should strengthen ties with long-standing partner countries such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland.