Significant increase on proposed budget would address growing pressure on international academic cooperation
Photo credits: Hoseung Han / Unsplash
The EU should grant at least €60 billion to the next Erasmus+ programme to maintain and broaden its activities, or risk undermining a strategic instrument for boosting competitiveness, according to a statement by university groups. This represents a 47% increase on the €40.8 billion budget proposed by the European Commission last summer, but is less than the €75 billion demanded by the European Parliament.
“This €60 billion request is not about one single new priority suddenly requiring additional funding after 2027, it is about the overall picture,” said Emmanuelle Gardan, director of the Coimbra Group university network. “Under the Commission’s current proposal, the higher education sector would not even be able to maintain the level of activities and mobility targets already agreed for 2027, let alone expand them,” she told Science|Business.
Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of university group Cesaer, confirmed that the debate was “less about launching entirely new initiatives, and more about whether Europe is serious about delivering on already agreed priorities.”
Under the forthcoming Erasmus+ programme, the Commission intends to reach more ambitious mobility and inclusivity goals, build the Union of Skills, consolidate existing schemes such as the European Universities alliances, and create scholarships in strategic fields. The programme will also include youth opportunities that currently fall under the European Solidarity Corps.
Once rising costs are factored in, a €60 billion budget is “a realistic minimum,” according to Björnmalm.
This figure is based on 2025 calculations by one of the contributors to the statement, the German Academic Exchange Service. It found that in order to meet the objective of almost a quarter of all university graduates gaining experience abroad during their studies by 2030, universities would require at least €20 billion between 2028 and 2034.
Meanwhile, Michael Gaebel, director of higher education policy at the European University Association, expects the new strategic scholarships to be costly. “The pilot foresees grants to universities of €1.25 million to pay for at least 25 scholarships,” he said. “If this is not properly funded, this will be merely symbolic, with no real impact at relatively high organisational costs.”
For Kurt Deketelaere, secretary general of the League of European Research Universities, the main concern is that the budget proposed by the Commission last July “will only fund the core educational activities of the European Universities alliances, and as a consequence will have no room for activities in the field of research and innovation.”
With a minimum €60 billion budget, the university groups say that the Erasmus+ programme could meet EU priorities ranging from skills development to digitalisation to talent attraction without hampering quality or participation, expand its access to learners with fewer opportunities, and respond to the needs of the European labour market.
Strategic instrument
The university groups argue that investing in the EU mobility programme is all the more important given pressure on international scientific cooperation, academic freedom and evidence-based policy, particularly from the US.
According to Björnmalm, supporting Erasmus+ with adequate funding is about keeping Europe “attractive and credible” as a global hub for talent and knowledge. “Strengthening Erasmus+ is therefore not only an education choice, but a strategic choice for Europe’s resilience, competitiveness and prosperity.”
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“Geopolitical tensions have concrete consequences on higher education, where they tend to lead to disengagement from cooperation and exchanges,” said Katrīna Sproģe, policy community coordinator at the European University Foundation. “Investing in Erasmus+ [. . .] supports mutual understanding among people from different countries across Europe and beyond.”
“Erasmus+ offers life-changing experiences that foster critical thinking, intercultural understanding and a sense of belonging to Europe. These are not abstract benefits,” Gardan added. “The enthusiastic reactions from British Erasmus+ alumni following the announcement of the UK’s reintegration into the programme last December are the best examples of its real impact.”
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