News

Brussels, 15th December 2011 // Today a coalition of 30 European networks gathering thousands of organizations in secondary and higher education, vocational education and training, youth, adult education and popular education adopted common messages on the future “Erasmus for All” programme. The coalition praises the proposed budget of 19 billion EUR while acknowledging that is a minimum allocation necessary to have a real impact in the current economic crisis and to match the ambitious targets of the Europe 2020 strategy. It also welcomes the commitment to simplify the programme. However it considers that some improvements could be brought to the proposed Regulation in order to ensure a greater impact and European added value. This concerns the need to reinforce the lifelong learning dimension and the recognition of competences and skills gained through non-formal education, to strengthen the complementary aims of learning – active citizenship, social inclusion as well as employability. Furthermore, it is crucial to better acknowledge the importance of civil dialogue and civil society and the support to them.