The Erasmus program, the students exchange program which takes place in Europe every year is under threat due to a lack of funding, European Commissioner Androulla Vassileiou from Cyprus said.
The European Union’s Member States have failed to come to terms concerning funding and the future prospects of the program, she said.
Vassileiou has urged EU officials and civil society members to create pressure to keep the program alive at the same time the European Commission is seeking to increase its budget in other areas.
Erasmus is part of the Lifelong Learning Program (LLP) which accounts for 0.71% of the 975 billion euros ($1.263 trillion) total EU budget. The current shortfall for LLP is 180 million euros ($233 million.) In the current budgetary period (2007-2013) the Commission has funded Erasmus program with 3,.1 billion euros ($4.18 billion.)
The funding goes mostly to national agencies and though them to universities and students. Students of the 33 Member States which participate in the program apply to their home university for the grants and receive them in the end of the placement.
The funding problem of the Erasmus program and LLP is a consequence of the 2012 cut in funding proposed by the European Commission. The EC, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed on cutting the budget for 2012 from 132 billion euros ($171 billion) to 129 billion euros ($167.2 billion.)
The 2012 budget must also cover a part of the 2011 budget which has also been underfunded. The three governing parties of the EU have been in contact to renegotiate the 2012 budget in case there are shortfalls in programs. Vasseleiou said Erasmus, which will have placed three million students since it began in 1987, is not in danger until next year when national agencies will receive less funding if the three institutions do not amend the budget.
That means that universities will either have to cut places or the amount of grants each student receives. The Commissioner has also taken on initiatives to examine if funds from other programs can be transferred to save the Erasmus program while she stressed out that it is not the young Europeans who must pay the price of the lack of agreement between the EU institution concerning budget cuts.
(Source: European Commission)
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