EU aims to boost Erasmus study programme

The budget for the EU Erasmus inter-university programme is set to be increased by 70% to €19bn between 2014 and 2020 under proposals revealed today.

Under the revised Erasmus for All programme proposed by the European Commission today up to 5 million people, almost twice as many as now, could get the chance to study or train abroad with a grant.

The proposed programme would bring together all the current EU and international schemes for education, training, youth and sport, replacing seven existing programmes with one.

"Investing in education and training is the best investment we can make for Europe's future," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

"Studying abroad boosts people's skills, personal development and adaptability, and makes them more employable.

"We want to ensure that many more people benefit from EU support for these opportunities. We also need to invest more to improve the quality of education and training at all levels so we are a match for the best in the world and so that we can deliver more jobs and higher growth."

Irish young people currently make up just 1% of the total taking part in the Erasmus programme, behind some countries of similar size or smaller.

Donal Kitt of the EU Commission in Ireland said the proposed revamp of the Erasmus programme will open up more opportunities for Irish third-level students.

"A lot of money will also go into educuating Irish students about the opportunities that are available," Mr Kitt said.

"2,000 Irish higher-level students went abroad last year - we had 5,000 coming to our Irish higher education institutions and we need to get more Irish students availing of these great opportunities to live in other countries and experience other cultures."

This proposal is now under discussion by the European Council and the European Parliament who will take the final decision on the budgetary framework for 2014-2020.