Mobility grants have become a warning issue for many students and higher institutions in some European countries, as they are reporting problems with the allocation of such financial aid under the new generation of the Erasmus+ program 2021-2027.
According to a report published by the European University Association, Key Action 1 funding during this year (€705 million) is lower compared to the final years of the previous programme (€942 million in 2020; €922 million in 2019), SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Such figures mainly resulted from the general approach taken in Erasmus+, in which annual budgets are augmented from year to year. Besides, in 2022 the mobility budget (€971 million) marks a slight increase compared to 2020.
Several countries have reported severe problems with the Erasmus+ program.
“In addition to smaller budgets than in previous years, there are reports of delayed payments, requiring higher education institutions to advance mobility funding. These issues are partially due to the delayed formal adoption of the programme at the European level, and partially to how smoothly the national agencies have been able to allocate funding for 2021 and reallocate unused 2020 budgets,” the statement published by the European University Association reads.
Last month, the Commission opened calls for proposals regarding the Erasmus+ program for next year. Back then, the Commission stressed that the program would have an increased budget of €3.9 billion.
In this regard, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, stressed that Erasmus+ would mark its 35th anniversary, therefore, giving more opportunities for people to learn, study and get trained abroad.
“We want to give the opportunity to a greater number of people to take part and benefit from what Erasmus+ has to offer. We will also celebrate in 2022 the European Year of Youth, and Erasmus+ will play a central role,” Commissioner Gabriel pointed out.
Such an announcement was published by the Head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, while she stressed that the framework attempts to improve equity in the European Education Area.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the EU Commission introduced a new Erasmus+ phone application that will be accessible to all persons across all EU countries.
The application was introduced as part of efforts to make this program more digitized.
