ERASMUS+ - Main contents

The new programme will have three main pillars:

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  education and training

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  youth

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  sport

In the field of education and training, all the current programmes will keep their brand names, as they are well known to the public and to beneficiaries:

- Comeniusfor school education activities;

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  Erasmus for all types of higher education;

- Erasmus Mundusfor all types of higher education activity at international level;

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  Leonardo da Vinci for vocational education and training; and

- Grundtvigforadult learning.

In the field of youth, the new Youth in Action Programme will support mobility opportunities for young people, those active in youth work or youth organisations and youth leaders. The programme is aimed at helping young people, including those with fewer opportunities, to improve key competences and skills and at improving social inclusion and solidarity, in particular through individual mobility programmes.

Erasmus+ devotes a whole section to sport for the first timein a European programme. The focus will be on grassroots sport and the aim is to tackle threats to the integrity of sport that cut across national borders, such as doping, match-fixing and violence, as well as all types of intolerance and discrimination.

Budget

The overall budget for the new Erasmus+ programme totals €14 774 524 000 for the period 2014 to 2020. This is an increase of about 47% compared to the total amount allocated to all the current education, learning and youth programmes for the period from 2007 to 2013. Additional funding for higher-education students going to or coming from countries outside the EU will be made available from other European funds. These are the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), the Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries (PI) and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA).

Annual spending levels will be authorised by the European Parliament and the Council within the limits of the long-term budget for 2014-2020 (the Multiannual Financial Framework).

The total amount of the programme will be shared between different actions as shown in the table below:

In future, funds for learning mobility actions will be allocated on the basis of the total population and the cost of living in each member state (rather than the number of students in higher education, as in the past) and the distances between member state capitals.

The European Parliament underlines that the scholarships allocated under the new programme should be adjusted to the living and subsistence costs of the host country and member states should also be encouraged to exempt the grants from any taxes and social levies.

These funds will be managed by the national agency or agencies designated by each member state as responsible for the Erasmus+ programme.

Beneficiaries

The programme is open to young people between 13 and 30 years of age, whether they are students, trainees, apprentices, volunteers, involved in youth activities, teaching staff or trainers, through any organisation or institution active in education, training, youth and sport.

Erasmus+ will continue to focus on the needs of young people and will support formal and informal learning experiences across all areas in the EU.

Schools or other educational or training institutions, youth organisations, volunteering organisations or non-profit European sports events will be also supported under Erasmus+.

Loan Guarantee Instrument

Member states already have their own loan schemes but these usually apply only at national level. The European Student Loan Guarantee Facility will therefore focus on supporting Masters students who go abroad to study and it will provide partial guarantees for loans granted on the most favourable terms possible.

This new tool for promoting learning mobility for Master’s degree students will not replace or impede any current or future grant systems supporting student mobility at local, national or Union level.

The facility will be open to any student resident in a participating country who wishes to pursue his or her Master’s degree studies in another participating country. Loans will be granted on a non-discriminatory basis and no collateral or parental guarantee will be required.

The facility will provide backing for loans of up to €12,000 for a one-year Masters programme and up to €18,000 for a two-year Masters programme. Students will be able to apply for a loan through a participating bank or other financial body. The loan should be offered to the student on the most favourable terms possible, for example, with:

- an interest rate that is significantly lower than the market rate;

- an option to defer the payment of interest during the study period;

- an initial grace period before the commencement of repayments, lasting a minimum of 12 months after the end of the study;

- a provision for a "repayment holiday" of a minimum duration of 12 months over the lifetime of the loan;

- no penalties for early total or partial repayment.

Knowledge alliances and sector skills alliances

Erasmus+ creates the possibility of new partnerships, or knowledge alliances, between higher education institutions and companies in order to promote creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship by offering relevant learning opportunities for students in the real working environment, and developing new curricula and pedagogical approaches.

Sector skills alliances, or partnerships between education and training providers and businesses, aim to promote employability by creating new sector-specific or cross-sectoral curricula and developing innovative methods of vocational teaching and training.

Management of the programme at national level

Erasmus+ will be implemented by the European Commission at European level. At national level, each member state has the right to decide on the agency (or agencies, depending on national law and national practices) responsible for the management of the programme.