Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2018)367 - 'Erasmus': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2018)367 - 'Erasmus': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2018)367  |
| date | 30-05-2018 |
1. CONTEXTOFTHEPROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
Education, training and youth have recently come to the forefront of EU Leaders' attention. In the Rome Declaration, of 25 March 2017, they called for "a Union where citizens have new opportunities for cultural and social development and economic growth" and pledged to work towards "a Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent."
In its resolution of 14 September 2017 'on the future of the Erasmus+ programme', the European Parliament emphasised that the future programme should ultimately be targeted towards all young people and that these higher ambitions for the next programming period should be reflected in an increased budget so as to unlock the full potential of the programme.
In the context of the Social Summit in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission solemnly proclaimed and signed the European Pillar of Social Rights, which sets out, as its first principle, that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.
In its conclusions of 14 December 2017, the European Council highlighted the importance of the social, educational and cultural dimension of Union policies in bringing Europeans together and building our common future, and called on Member States, the Council and the Commission, in line with their respective competences, to take work forward with a view to stepping up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended programme.
In its Communication of 14 February 2018 on A new, modern Multiannual Financial Framework for a Union that delivers efficiently on its priorities post-20201, the Commission highlighted that the Union budget will need to deliver on the promises made by Union Leaders, including through the full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and supporting young people and the mobility of European citizens. The Communication also underlined the strong consensus on the need to step up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended Erasmus+, and underlined that the programme equips young people with labour market skills, improves cultural understanding and strengthens the social fabric of the Union.
In its Communication on A modern budget for a Union that protects, empowers and defends -the multiannual financial framework for 2021-20272 adopted on 2 May 2018, the Commission proposed "a stronger “youth” focus in the next financial framework. This will be achieved by more than doubling the size of Erasmus+ (…), one of the Union’s most visible success stories." The focus of the new Programme "will be on inclusiveness, and to reach more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This will allow more young people to move to another country to learn or work." The Commission thus proposed "a more powerful Erasmus programme which will reach a size of EUR 30 billion over the period". It also proposes to include an amount of EUR 700 million for a new initiative 'DiscoverEU' which will offer young people the opportunity to discover other EU countries.
The ambition for the next programme (hereinafter referred to as the Programme) goes hand in hand with the Commission's vision to work towards a European Education Area by 2025 as set out in its Communication on Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture of 14 November 20173. The European Education Area stands for "a Europe in which learning would not be hampered by borders. A continent where spending time in another Member State - to study, to learn and to work - has become the standard and where, in addition to one's mother tongue, speaking two other languages has become the norm. A continent in which people have a strong sense of their identity as Europeans, of Europe's cultural heritage and its diversity". The Programme will be a key component supporting the work towards a European Education Area.
The aim is to boost the tried-and-tested Programme in all categories of learners, whether taking part in higher education, general education, vocational education and training and adult education or in non-formal learning, youth and active participation activities. Increasing the accessibility of the Programme to a wider number of individuals means an increased financial investment in the Programme but also, and very importantly, a mix of measures, rules and modalities of participation that allow to do economies of scale, introduce simplification to alleviate the administrative burden, thus removing obstacles to mobility and increasing the relevance, attractiveness and inclusive character of the Programme. The goal is to triple the number of participants while at the same time introducing qualitative measures and incentives that would allow to improve outreach to learners with fewer opportunities.
Europeans need to be equipped with the skills needed in a society that is increasingly mobile, multicultural and digital. There is a clear need to address this challenge and invest in activities that provide individuals with the right set of knowledge, skills and competences, including languages, from a lifelong learning perspective. This will help to make them more resilient and employable as well as foster social cohesion. Europe also needs more investments in digital skills and forward-looking fields, such as climate change, clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysis, arts/design, etc. These are all essential fields for Europe's future sustainable growth and cohesion. The Programme can make a meaningful contribution by stimulating innovation and bridging Europe's knowledge, skills and competences gap. Focused actions will help the Union unleash its potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the digital economy. Supporting culture and creativity in education will contribute to increased resilience of European society.
To increase the qualitative impact of the current programme, the future Programme should reach out more and better to people of different ages and from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds. It should reach out more to those with fewer opportunities, including people with disabilities and migrants as well as Union citizens living in remote areas. For school pupils, learning mobility experiences have been an exception so far. As regards higher education students, trainees, apprentices, young people in general, the current programme is unable to satisfy the large and growing demand in participating in learning mobility activities. Hence, further efforts are needed to make the Programme more inclusive and further increase its efficiency, building on the excellent results achieved over the past thirty years by Union programmes in this field. This will be done notably by increasing and facilitating mobility activities for school pupils, vocational learners, apprentices and youth. For all types of mobility activities, the level of grant support should be optimised, including by ensuring higher grants for certain categories of students and learners, including in higher education mobility. Mobility opportunities for youth participating in non-formal learning activities will be extended to reach more young people. Measures will be taken to encourage young people to engage and learn to participate in civic society, raising awareness about Union common
values, bringing together young people and decision makers at local, national and European level, as well as contributing to the European integration process.
The Programme should also reach out to a larger target group both within and beyond the Union by a greater use of information, communication and technology tools, blended mobility (a combination of physical and virtual mobility) and virtual cooperation. To make the Programme more inclusive and in particular to address the needs of certain target groups, such as adult learners, more flexible learning mobility formats, such as short term, group or virtual mobility, will be promoted. Best practices on inclusion in the youth field could be expanded to other fields. A specific action – small scale partnerships - would be designed to make the Programme accessible to organisations with little or no experience or with smaller operational capacity, in particular for grassroots organisations and those organisations that work with people with fewer opportunities.
The Programme will address the Europe-wide trends of limited participation in democratic life and the low levels of knowledge and awareness about European matters that have an impact on the lives of all European citizens. Many people are reluctant, or face difficulties, in actively engaging and participating in their communities or in the Union's political and social life. Moreover, although 70% of Europeans feel they are citizens of the Union today, with the percentage even higher among the younger generations, there is a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of what the European Union is, how it works and what added value it has for its citizens4. Strengthening European identity and the participation of young people in democratic processes is of paramount importance for the Union's future. The Programme can contribute to raising awareness and knowledge of the European Union among more people than it has done so far. Organisations and institutions active in the fields of education, training, youth and sport have a key role to play in the development of civic education and in building knowledge about Union matters at large. When looking at young Europeans' understanding of the European Union, they have little knowledge beyond basic facts5. Almost nine in ten young people in the Union believe that there should be stronger school education about rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the Union6. At the same time, the coverage of teaching about the European Union in national curricula is very fragmented and the active participation dimension is mostly missing7. There is also a general need to empower people to become more active in society, willing and capable to participate fully in society and in the democratic life of Europe.
Supporting and facilitating the transnational and international cooperation between organisations in the fields of education, training, youth and sport is instrumental to achieving the goals and address the challenges described above. Cooperation between organisations and institutions is a catalyst for innovative ways to support learners in their personal, educational and professional development. It brings concrete positive effects for individuals, for example
70% of Europeans now feel that they are citizens of the European Union, a slight increase of two percentage points since 2017 and the highest score recorded since spring 2010. More than half the respondents (54%) know their rights as EU citizens, but more than two thirds would like to know more (Standard Eurobarometer 88 on EU citizenship from November 2017). See also the 2017 EU citizenship report, COM(2017) 30/2 final.
For example just one third of students aged 14 (35%) know who votes to elect members of the European Parliament; IEA (2010) ICCS 2009 European Report Civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement among lower-secondary students in 24 European countries www.iea.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications">www.iea.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications TNS for the European Commission (2017) European Youth Eurobarometer https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/1fa75943-a978-11e7-837e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. Learning Europe at School Study https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
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by empowering people with more key competences, reducing early school leaving, recognising competences acquired through volunteering and non-formal learning, increasing higher education attainment or implementing the Bologna reforms. It facilitates the circulation of ideas and the transmission of best practices and expertise, thus contributing to a high quality education. However, the intensity and capacity of cooperation activities spawned by the current Erasmus+ programme remain insufficient, especially among small and grass-roots organisations. The degree of cooperation varies across countries and regions, and across sectors. There is room for improvement regarding the participation of schools, adult learning establishments and youth associations. This situation hampers institutional reforms and the modernisation of education, training and youth systems at national and European level.
The international dimension of the Programme is a fundamental and cross-cutting element which is relevant for mobility, cooperation as well as for policy dialogue activities. There is, in particular, a need to intensify international mobility and cooperation with third countries -in particular enlargement, neighbourhood, industrialised and emerging countries - in order to support institutions and organisations in Europe in facing the challenges of globalisation. At the same time, it is key to ensure synergies with the Union's external instruments to pursue the goals of its external actions to contribute to human and institutional development in third countries, including in developing countries, and to engage with their young people, as an essential element to building more resilient societies and enhancing trust between cultures.
The Programme will have to tackle cross-cutting issues which concern all Union programmes, such as simplifying access to the Programme to the widest possible range of target groups (e.g., simpler rules and administrative procedures, and optimised online tools) while ensuring a competitive and transparent selection of projects, a correct grant-management cycle with minimised financial risks for the Union. In addition, the implementation modalities of the international strand should be made simpler, in order to increase accessibility to the action.
This proposal provides for a date of application as of 1 January 2021 and is presented for a Union of twenty seven Member States, in line with the notification by the United Kingdom of its intention to withdraw from the European Union and Euratom based on Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union received by the European Council on 29 March 2017.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions
The Programme is one of the funding instruments under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework aiming at investing in people, social cohesion and values. It is a key instrument at Union level which funds activities at European level in support of learning mobility, cooperation and innovative policy developments in the fields of education, training youth and sport.
The policies of the Union in the field of education, training, youth and sport consist of working towards a European Education Area, while promoting the overall strategic framework for European cooperation in the field of education and training, and its underlying sectoral agendas on school, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education, advancing youth policy cooperation under the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and developing the European dimension in sport, in particular grassroots sport. The Programme is a key instrument supporting the implementation of these Union policies, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, jobs and social cohesion and strengthening European identity, as outlined in the Programme objectives.
In particular, the Programme will support (a) school development and excellent teaching; (b) the Copenhagen process on vocational education and training; (c) the renewed EU agenda for higher education and the Bologna process; (d) the renewed EU agenda for adult learning; (e)
the renewed EU youth strategy and (f) the EU work plan for sport. These policies will continue to rely on the support from the integrated lifelong learning approach of the Programme.
In addition, the Programme will contribute to the implementation of the New Skills Agenda for Europe with a shared commitment to the strategic importance of skills for sustaining jobs, growth and competitiveness. It also supports Member States in reaching the goals set out in the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education from 17 March 2015.
The Programme will also contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, in particular to the Sustainable Development Goal number 4 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• Consistency with other Union policies and programmes
The Programme will be consistent with and complementary to other Union instruments, in particular the external cooperation instruments8, the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds)9, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF). The Union Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy of June 2016 and the European Consensus for Development adopted by Council on 19 May 2017 underline the importance of education and human development as instruments to address concerns linked to demographic trends outside the Union. Actions in the area of education, training and youth policies are also crucial to address migration challenges and prevent risk of radicalisation and extremism. In this respect, the Programme will seek synergies with the Asylum Migration Fund as well as with the Internal Security Fund10. There are also important potential complementarities between the objectives and interventions of the Programme and the future Rights and Values programme. The latter aims at promoting and increasing awareness of citizens about our common history, and at enhancing democratic participation of citizens at Union level.
The Commission proposal for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework set a more ambitious goal for climate mainstreaming across all EU programmes, with an overall target of 25% of EU expenditure contributing to climate objectives. The contribution of this programme to the achievement of this overall target will be tracked through an EU climate marker system at an appropriate level of disaggregation, including the use of more precise methodologies where these are available. The Commission will continue to present the information annually in terms of commitment appropriations in the context of the annual draft budget. To support the full utilisation of the potential of the programme to contribute to climate objectives, the Commission will seek to identify relevant actions throughout the programme preparation, implementation, review and evaluation processes.
The Programme will be consistent with and constitute an important complement to the future Creative Europe programme11. Cooperation between institutions and organisations active in education, training and youth, supported by Erasmus, will help equip individuals with the knowledge, skills and competences needed to face social and economic challenges as well as fulfil their potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, in particular within the
Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA III).
Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
[Reference].
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digital economy. Activities linked to reinforcing all aspects of creativity in education and enhancing individual key competencies, will constitute a major link between the two programmes in line with the New Agenda for Culture12.
In the field of youth, the Programme will also be consistent with, and complement the European Solidarity Corps by offering different types of activities. The European Solidarity Corps aims at enhancing the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity activities, while the proposed Erasmus Programme will offer other types of activities, such as transnational learning mobility, youth participation activities, measures to enhance cooperation among organisations and activities aiming at supporting policy development. Both programmes have common governance and delivery mechanisms.
In the field of research and innovation, the Programme will ensure synergies with Horizon Europe. Notably, the latter will, where appropriate, complement the Programme's support for the European Universities initiative, in particular its research dimension as part of developing new joint and integrated long term and sustainable strategies on education, research and innovation.
In the field of digital skills, the Digital Europe Programme will complement the wide approach of Erasmus+ to skills by supporting the development and acquisition of advanced digital skills needed for the deployment of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence or high-performance computing, in cooperation with relevant industries.
In line with Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Programme will take into account the specific situation of the outermost regions of the Union and seek to increase their participation in all actions of the Programme, including those with third countries.
The future Programme will aim at acting as a 'vehicle' to support valuable learning mobility formats in other policy areas of the Union. A new action will be introduced, under key action 3, to support mobility of organisations or individuals that are targeted specifically in other policy areas (e.g. public governance sector, agriculture and rural development, enterprise, law enforcement).
2. LEGALBASIS, SUBSIDIARITYAND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
Union action in the field of education, training, youth and sport is enshrined in Articles 165 and 166 TFEU which give the Union a supporting competence with the aim to contribute to the development of quality education, the implementation of a vocational training policy and of a youth policy and the promotion of European sporting issues.
• Subsidiarity
While Member States remain responsible for the content and organisation of their policies in the fields concerned, this Programme aims to boost transnational and international mobility and cooperation projects, and to support policy developments with a European dimension. The access to the Programme will be made easier for small actors. In general, it will support transnational activities but also, in exceptional cases, national activities with a strong European dimension, such as activities on a specific European theme or policy priority. This will allow organisations with lower organisational capacity and participants with little or no experience in transnational cooperation, such as grassroots organisations and newcomers, to
have a first time experience in accessing Union funds and gaining knowledge in view of future transnational cooperation activities.
The objectives of this initiative cannot be adequately and sufficiently achieved by the Member States by reason of the transnational character, high volume and wide geographical scope of the learning mobility and cooperation activities funded, their effects on access to learning mobility and more generally on Union integration, as well as its reinforced international dimension. As demonstrated by the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, single initiatives of education institutions or Member States, though deemed efficient and beneficial at national level, have insufficient scale and volume, and do not reach a European-wide effect. In terms of scope, the cumulative individual country and cross sectoral coverage remains limited compared to the current Erasmus+ programme.
• Proportionality
This proposal will cover all education and training sectors - schools, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education - youth and sport in a focused and streamlined way. It will reinforce the tried-and-tested actions the impact of which has been evidenced by the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation. To maximise its impact, the volume of learning mobility and cooperation activities will be increased in sectors showing the highest performance, to respond to the high unmet demand and address the challenges described under section 1. Existing actions will be streamlined and refocused (such as adult learning, sport and Jean Monnet) taking into account the results of the mid-term evaluation of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme13 and stakeholder consultations. The use of new and flexible formats will be promoted to broaden the reach of the Programme (such as virtual cooperation, short term and group mobility). A limited number of new actions will be introduced to address new challenges and political priorities (such as the European Universities and Jean Monnet in other fields of education and training). These measures are considered to be the most suitable for making the Programme more inclusive and more effective.
The improvements proposed will be integrated in the existing programme architecture and use the existing delivery mechanisms to ensure maximum continuity and stability with the predecessor programme. Hence this initiative does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objectives pursued.
• Choice of the instrument
The proposed instrument is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER
Contents
- consultations
- COM(2018) 98
- the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the
- The European Regional and Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Maritime and
- simplification, by streamlining and refocusing certain actions, allowing the programme to work as effectively as it has done during the 2014-2020 programming period; or
- This
- SEC(2018) 265. This opinion concerns a draft impact assessment report which differs from the one
- Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union
- and
ANDIMPACTASSESSMENTS
• Retrospective evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
The above-mentioned mid-term evaluation of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme, which assessed the progress in the implementation of the Programme in the period 2014-2016 and the long-term impact of its predecessor programmes, showed that the current Erasmus+ delivers a unique package of outcomes in the field of education, training, youth and sport and is highly valued by stakeholders and the public. It highlighted the strong European added value of Erasmus+ and its predecessor programmes. The evaluation also found that all the predecessor programmes evaluated were highly effective whereas Erasmus+ is more coherent, relevant and only, in part, more efficient than its predecessors. Moreover, it highlighted the positive effects of the integrated nature of the Programme covering learning in all its contexts
and at all stages of life (lifelong learning logic). The implementation modes were also seen as overall clear and fit for purpose.
The evaluation indicated some areas for improvement, in particular:
– in terms of relevance, the evaluation pointed to the need to better reach out to
individuals with fewer opportunities and to facilitate the participation of smaller organisations to make the programme more inclusive; to reinforce measures to foster the understanding of European integration and sense of belonging to Europe, in particular amongst the youngest generations;
– in terms of effectiveness, the volume of activities in sectors showing the highest
performance, but which have, until now, received relatively less funding, should be reinforced such as in the school, vocational education and training and youth sectors, which will also contribute to reinforcing the inclusion dimension of the Programme;
– in terms of efficiency, the procedures of application and reporting could be further
simplified to reduce the administrative burden on beneficiaries and the online procedures be further optimised.
This proposal takes largely into account the findings and recommendations for improvements made by the external evaluator with a view to a successor programme.
The key findings of the mid-term evaluation are further described in the Impact Assessment (see section 1.3.1) and a detailed account of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation can be found in the staff working document which accompanied the mid-term evaluation report14.
• Stakeholder consultations
Large-scale public and stakeholder consultations took place from November 2016 and throughout much of 2017 within the context of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation in all programme countries15. This was done through a mix of consultation activities: semi-structured interviews, online surveys among the beneficiaries of the programme, case studies and an open public consultation launched on 28 February 2017 for three months with a view to gather the opinions of the general public and of all interested groups. Data and views were collected from the implementing bodies of the Programme as well as from non-beneficiaries and bodies in charge of the implementation of other comparable programmes. Ad hoc stakeholder consultations were also undertaken on the Jean Monnet activities and on the Student Loan Guarantee Facility. All in all, over a million responses were received from all interested parties.
The programme countries submitted national reports on the implementation and impact in their respective territories of the actions of Erasmus+ they had to manage.
The data collected during these consultations showed unanimous support from Member States, learning institutions and participants for further strengthening of the programme while maintaining stability and continuity of the programme in terms of basic architecture and delivery mechanisms. Main areas of future improvement identified during consultations concerned the need to further simplify the programme rules and reduce the administrative burden, notably on decentralised international higher education actions and to make the programme more inclusive. It was also suggested to review the share out between the
14 SWD(2018) 40 final.
15 The Programme countries i.e. the twenty-eight Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,
programme sectors in terms of funding allocated and the subsequent volume of activities across the sectors.
Stakeholders also underlined that the future programme should remain integrated and underpinned by the lifelong learning concept and called for further simplifying procedures and processes – also through the optimisation of online tools as well as increasing budget flexibility. This is particularly an issue as regards the international actions of the programme in the field of higher education which are managed by the national agencies in a separate way for each global region in a too rigid manner. They also called for reinforcing the synergies with European Structural Investment Funds.
A separate open public consultation16 was carried out from 9 January 2018 to 9 March 2018 in the context of the preparation of the next generation of financial programmes for the period after 2020, inter alia to seek inputs on the design of the future programme.
This consultation confirmed that the current Erasmus+ programme is perceived as one of the Union’s most successful and highly relevant programmes. The stakeholders strongly underlined the European added value of Erasmus+ as compared to similar national programmes. The programme's integrated architecture and management modes were considered appropriate and fit for purpose.
In terms of main challenges of the future programme, this consultation confirmed the findings of earlier consultation activities (need to effectively reach out to most disadvantaged target groups and to facilitate the participation of grassroots organisations and newcomers; insufficient level of funding perceived as a barrier for the programme to reach its full potential, need for further simplification in the application and reporting processes). Stakeholders also highlighted the limited added value of the Student Loan Guarantee Facility.
With regard to the objectives of the future programme, the stakeholders emphasised the need to refocus priorities towards more social inclusion and fairness, modernisation of education and training, as well as more emphasis on European identity, active citizenship and participation in the democratic life. Stakeholders' key messages referred to enhanced short-term mobility options, opportunities for pupil mobility and enhanced adult mobility, mutual recognition of diplomas, more virtual tools, more small scale projects, increased budget for the programme, build stronger links with neighbouring countries and widen the geographical scope for the cooperation with the rest of the world, increased flexibility, extended opportunities of cross-sectoral co-operation. Stakeholders also called for greater synergies with European Social Fund and improvement of the dissemination and effective exploitation of project results.
The stakeholder consultations are detailed in the above-mentioned mid-term evaluation and in the Impact Assessment (see its Annex II).
• External expertise
The Commission relied on the expertise of an external contractor and other reviewed studies in the context of its above-mentioned mid-term evaluation of the programme.
In its Report17, the contractor summarised the findings of its evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme in the period 2014–2016 and the predecessor programmes in the period 2007– 2013. The analysis covered all sectors of the programme: education, training, youth and sport
The Consultation was led by the European Commission Secretariat General and covered a cluster of programmes in fields of education/ training, culture, citizenship and justice. The consultation received 1127 responses which were directly relevant to the Erasmus + programme. Open public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility.
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as well as Jean Monnet and the Student Loan Guarantee Facility. It also covered all types of actions funded. The evaluation furthermore offered a focused evaluation on an action currently piloted under the programme, eTwinning Plus.
The evaluation was structured around five evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and Union added value).
In addition, the report was accompanied by several self-standing reports: an evaluation of the Student Loan Guarantee Facility and of Jean Monnet, a synopsis report of the results of the three-months open public consultation launched in February 2017 and a synthesis of the Reports by the National Authorities.
In its report the contractor identified a number of areas for improvement and made related recommendations. As already mentioned above, the Commission based itself on these findings and recommendations in its report on the mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme.
• Impact Assessment
The Impact Assessment focused on two options:
(1)
continuing the programme in its current form with the current budget corrected to take account of the United Kingdom leaving the Union (EU-27) which represents the minimum critical mass investment in the field of education, training, youth and sport at Union level to continue to have a positive outcome. Some efficiency gains could be introduced by streamlining and refocusing some existing actions;
(2)
a strengthened, more inclusive and extended programme with a number of improvements that would allow the programme to better address the challenges identified in the context of the mid-term evaluation and subsequent consultations, also taking into account the latest policy developments.
The preferred option identified in the Impact Assessment is a strengthened programme, in line with the abovementioned Communication of 2 May 2018 on the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027.
The Impact Assessment developed a number of sub-options, focusing on the improvements and novelties compared to the current programme, while keeping the current integrated programme architecture and delivery mechanisms. It provided an indicative priority ranking of a number of improvements and novelties that could be implemented in case of a moderate budgetary increase for the programme under the next multiannual financial framework, while others could be implemented only on the condition of a higher increase of the overall budget.
The scope and volume of the funded actions could:
– remain stable with a similar envelope, with improvements in terms of efficiency and
simplification, by streamlining and refocusing certain actions, allowing the programme to work as effectively as it has done during the 2014-2020 programming period; or
– should the programme's envelope be increased, the scope and volume of the various
existing actions could be increased and the identified new activities (including the cost intensive ones) could be implemented to their full extent, broadening the scope and increasing the European added value of the Programme.
This second proposal was considered to be the best policy choice for the following reasons:
In terms of the programme’s objectives, the preferred policy option responds best to the need of having an instrument that delivers efficiently on the Union's post 2020 objectives, in particular on the need to step up mobility and exchanges in all categories of learners, and the need to step up efforts to reach out to learners with fewer opportunities and to increase opportunities to cooperate including for smaller organisations, thus bringing Europeans together and strengthening European identity and commitment to European common values in times of rising populism;
In terms of priorities, the preferred policy option has been designed to better align the actions with the priorities set at Union level and takes account of the feedback received from stakeholders and the general public in the context of the midterm evaluation and the Erasmus 30-year campaign. It entails a rationalisation and refocusing of certain existing actions. For example, some actions will be specifically targeted towards activities that foster the development of competences in forward-looking fields; others will be aimed at fostering innovation in education, training, youth and sport; Jean Monnet activities will be partially refocused to target for example pupils in schools, the actions in the adult learning sector will be targeted to a more specifically defined target group (the lower skilled). At the same time, the proposal reinforces the inclusive dimension of the programme by adapting certain existing actions and introducing new measures (such as short term and group mobility and virtual cooperation). In addition, the preferred policy option establishes a certain level of flexibility in order to take into account of emerging priorities and needs emerging in the course of the programming period.
In terms of delivery mechanism, the preferred policy option, which aims at maintaining the existing – and unique – combination of management modes of the current Erasmus+ programme, based on the positive experience of the implementation of the programme, as evaluated at mid-term, will allow focusing on delivery and performance while minimising administrative burden. The national agencies established in each of the programme countries participating in the current Erasmus+ (indirect management) will continue to be in charge of managing the main part of the funds, i.e. most of those allocated to mobility and cooperation actions. National agencies are equipped to manage a large volume of actions of relatively low amounts that require proximity to the beneficiaries, adapt to the diversity of national education, training and youth systems, and align with national priorities. Direct management would be maintained for a number of specific actions that 1) do not have a critical mass of budget to be decentralised, 2) require a European or worldwide intervention, 3) are still embryonic at conceptual level and need a 'pilot' phase before being decentralised, or 4) require competition based on excellence. In addition, the preferred policy option will allow a certain level of flexibility in order to take into account emerging priorities and needs in the course of the multi-annual programming period.
proposal is fully consistent with the preferred policy option.
On 13 April 2018 the Regulatory Scrutiny Board issued a positive opinion with reservations18 on the understanding that the draft impact assessment report should be adjusted in order to integrate the Board recommendations on some key aspects. As a result, the report was revised with a view to:
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(1)
(2)
outline more clearly the rationale, efficiency gains and added value for the continuation and extension of some of the proposed actions, notably for the Jean Monnet, sport and adult learning actions;
further elaborate the analysis of the effectiveness and relevance of new initiatives and clarify the proposed actions regarding school pupils' mobility; Reinforce the prioritisation of the proposed new or extended actions and better highlight potential risks and ways to mitigate them;
clarify the concept of inclusion and its implications for the Erasmus programme, and
further elaborate on the potential synergies with other future Union programmes and instruments.
The opinion and the adjustments brought to the Impact Assessment report are further detailed in its first Annex.
• Simplification
In line with one of the cross-cutting objectives of the multiannual financial framework for the period after 2020, this proposal aims to reduce the burden for beneficiaries and implementing bodies. Rules and procedures such as grants selections, reporting, monitoring and control are as far as possible aligned on the rules and procedures common to all funding instruments, and the common horizontal rules of the Financial Regulation19 are used as much as possible. Simplification and rationalisation of common indicators and criteria for selection will also help reducing the burden directly on beneficiaries and national agencies. Moreover, the administrative burden for beneficiaries will be decreased by making full use of improved online tools.
Improvements and novelties will be integrated in the existing programme architecture and will use the existing delivery mechanisms. To ensure, as far as possible, continuity with the programming period 2014-2020, a light and proportionate procedure will be established for the re-designation of national agencies that have been in charge of implementing the programme at national level and the independent audit bodies that have been responsible for auditing in the current programme period. The benefits of such a light procedure for the designation of the implementing structures will free up resources at national level in the preparations of the next generation Programme.
This proposal also aims to further simplify and streamline the architecture of the Programme. In line with the recommendations of the mid-term evaluation, it will rationalise the structure of some of the actions to better target them and avoid overlaps, for example by differentiating partnerships focusing on innovation and partnerships whose purpose is mutual learning, cooperation and exchanges of best practices. Furthermore, it will bring most of the mobility actions under the same key action, shifting the mobility of school pupils from key action 2 (cooperation among organisations) to key action 1 (learning mobility for individuals). The actions of the Programme will now be organised according to the logic of key actions, including in the field of sport, thereby facilitating cross-sectoral dynamics.
Access to the next Programme for smaller organisations, such as grassroots organisations, newcomers and people who are hard to reach will be made easier. Potential candidates may be discouraged by the application procedures as well as by the administrative burden that follows from managing Union projects. Even though applicants appreciate the use of simplified cost options and grants (lump sums, unit costs and flat rates), the bureaucracy is a major problem
for some of them, in particular smaller-sized organisations, for example in the school, adult education and youth sectors. This proposal will implement an action (small-scale partnerships) that is specifically designed for such small-scale actors, with a lower level of administrative criteria and requirements compared to other traditional cooperation projects, with a view to reducing the entry barriers to the programme for organisations with a lower organisational capacity and newcomers. This action will also support flexible formats (generally transnational and, in exceptional cases, national activities with a strong European dimension) allowing organisations to reach out to people with fewer opportunities.
Integrating other specific Union mobility schemes with a strong learning dimension from other policy areas into the Programme will contribute to enhanced implementation coherence, as well as further simplification and efficiency gains. It will also make the access of beneficiaries and stakeholders to learning mobility easier by getting closer to the idea of providing a one-stop shop for Union mobility schemes through the Erasmus Programme.
Moreover, as evidenced by the mid-term evaluation, there is a need to significantly simplify the way the international actions of the programme are implemented. Currently, some parts of these actions are funded from four different Union external cooperation instruments20 and from the European Development Fund. These actions will be simplified by reducing the number of external cooperation instruments and by rationalising the procedures for programming the implementation of Erasmus actions under these instruments.
• Fundamental rights
This proposal is fully consistent with the Charter of fundamental rights of the Union. In particular, this proposal takes full account of Article 14 (right to education), 15 (freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work), 21 (non-discrimination), 23 (equality between women and men), 24 (rights of the child), 26 (integration of persons with disabilities), 31 (fair and just working conditions) and 32 (prohibition of child labour and protection of young people at work) of the Charter.
4. BUDGETARYIMPLICATIONS
In line with the Commission proposal for the multi-annual financial framework for the period 2021-2027, the financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the same period will be set at 30 000 000 000 EUR.
Further details on the budgetary implications and the human and administrative resources required are provided in the Legislative and Financial Statement attached to this proposal.
5. OTHERELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
The performance of the Programme will be monitored on a continuous basis, for the purposes of management, reporting and accountability, communication, visibility and exploitation of results. Key performance indicators will be set in an Annex to the proposed Regulation but the Commission plans to put in place further continuous monitoring activities, as further explained in section 5.1 of the Impact Assessment. These monitoring activities will aim to assess the progress towards achieving the output and results targets of the Programme, and to
Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA); European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI); Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI); Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third
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track the performance indicators in the short, medium and longer-term based on predefined targets and benchmarks.
In addition, the more complex and ambitious and long-term impact indicators will be measured a limited number of times over the programming cycle, either in the context of the formal mid-term and ex-post evaluation exercises of the future programme, or through dedicated independent studies and surveys to be undertaken by external experts. Some surveys could be used to measure the causal impact of certain actions of the Programme.
Moreover, the monitoring and evaluation arrangements, taking into account the results of the mid-term evaluation report of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme, will avoid putting any unnecessary burden on the beneficiaries of the Programme and the implementation bodies in terms of number and frequency of surveys, samples of respondents, amount and level of complexity of data collected, etc.
Member States will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation process through their national reports on the implementation of the programme in their territory.
Evaluations will be carried out in line with paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 201621, where the three institutions agreed that evaluations of existing legislation and policy should provide the basis for impact assessments of options for further action. The evaluations will assess the programme's effects on the ground based on the programme indicators/targets and a detailed analysis of the degree to which the programme can be deemed relevant, effective, efficient, provides enough EU added value and is coherent with other EU policies. They will include lessons learnt to identify any lacks/problems or any potential to further improve the actions or their results and to help maximise their exploitation/impact.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
Chapter I – General provisions of the proposed Regulation sets out its subject-matter, the definitions of certain terms for the purposes of this Regulation, as well as the general and specific objectives of the Programme. The Programme aims to support the educational, professional and personal development of people in education, training, youth and sport, in Europe and beyond, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, jobs and social cohesion and to strengthening European identity. It is a key instrument to support the implementation of the Union's policies in the field of education, training, youth and sport.
Specific objectives are defined for each of the three policy areas of the Programme (education and training, youth and sport).
Each of the three policy areas are structured around three key actions, learning mobility (key action 1), cooperation among organisations and institutions (key action 2) and support to policy development and cooperation (key action 3).
Chapters II – IV identify the actions which shall be supported by the Programme in each policy area and under each key action, respectively in the fields of education and training (Chapter II), youth (Chapter III) and sport (Chapter IV).
Chapter V – Financial provisions sets out the budgetary envelope of the Programme for the 2021-2027 period and the envisaged forms of Union funding. The prime reference amount is EUR 30 000 000 000. It also provides that an additional financial contribution shall be
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allocated under the external instruments. Some minimal amounts or thresholds are set for certain actions to allow the legislator to steer the implementation of the different dimensions of the Programme.
Chapter VI – Participation in the programme specifies which third countries can be associated to the Programme and the conditions under which they can fully take part in it, together with the Member States. These third countries must fulfill all the conditions imposed by this Regulation on the Member States, such as the obligation to set up a national agency. Organisations and individuals from other third countries may nevertheless participate in some of the actions supported by the Programme. This Chapter also specifies some specific rules applicable to direct and indirect management in view of the Financial Regulation, in particular which entities may apply for funding and on the participation of experts in the evaluation committee referred to in Article [150(3)] of the Financial Regulation.
Chapter VII – Programming, monitoring and evaluation sets out the necessary provisions for the conferral of powers to the Commission to adopt work programmes and delegated powers to review and/or complement the performance indicators. It also specifies the requirements in terms of monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the performance of the Programme.
Chapter VIII – Information, communication and dissemination defines the requirements for all the actors concerned in terms of dissemination of information, publicity and follow-up with regard to all actions supported by the Programme.
Chapter IX – Management and audit system establishes the provision for the establishment and functioning of the implementing bodies of the Programme. In management terms, the proposed delivery mechanism is a combination of indirect management and direct management. The combination of management modes builds on the existing structures of the current programme. National agencies will be in charge of managing the large majority of the funds of the Programme.
Chapter X – Control system lays down the necessary supervisory system to ensure that the protection of the financial interests of the Union is duly taken into account when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented.
Chapter XI – Complementarity with other Union policies, programmes and funds provides that the Programme shall be implemented so as to ensure the overall consistency and complementarity of the Programme with other Union policies and instruments and the principle for topping up of funds. Specific rules are foreseen to allow for complementarities between the Programme and the European Structural and Investment funds.
Chapter XII – Transitional and final provisions sets out the necessary provisions for the conferral of delegated powers to the Commission and to ensure the transition between programmes. As regards the Committee required under Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 to assist the Commission in adopting implementing acts, would be the Committee established by Article 36 of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 establishing the Erasmus+ programme. The final provisions set out the date of entry into force of the proposed Regulation which shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States from 1 January 2021.