The outgoing year was dedicated to European Citizenship. A general impression that has emerged during the consultation events was that there may not be awareness enough of what is taking place in the European Institutions. However I have the impression that a good number of people actually do follow what happens in Brussels and in other European nerve centres. I for one find it important to follow regularly, for example, the debates in the European Parliament. Of particular interest was the recent budget debate of the new Erasmus+ programme.
Erasmus+ is a programme of particular interest for our youth as it offers financial support to students and apprentices as well as teachers and trainers in order to further their study and training in another European country. Youth leaders and volunteers may also avail themselves of this financial support.
What is new about Erasmus+ is the inclusion of a sports plank and young athletes can now access funding in order to participate in education and training abroad whilst sports related seminars and educational events held locally may also attract funds. The sports programme encompasses a wide range of themes amongst such as doping, corruption and violence in sports as well as intolerance discrimination and equal opportunities in sport or the dual careers of sportsmen and women. Funding may also be granted for the enhancement of sports governance and for the promotion of sports volunteering and healthy living.
Readers familiar with educational institutions might have had experience of European Union programmes targeted at students. A good number of primary and secondary schools have participated in the Comenius programme which gave the students and teachers an opportunity to collaborate on a common theme with three or four schools from other member states. Through Erasmus, university students were able to follow part of their course of study in another European university. The Leonardo Da Vinci programme offers professional training abroad while Grundtvig operates in the field of Lifelong Learning and supports exchanges of older volunteers. The new Erasmus+ has been refashioned as an umbrella programme, incorporating all the previous actions with addition of new ones such as sport strand.
A few days ago I had the good fortune of attending the ceremony celebrating good practice in the European Union Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes. Young people and youth workers as well as organisations and learning institutions were given a deserved recognition for their commitment in promoting youth participation in these international programmes. In the last six years or so 1,600 young people have participated and it is envisaged that this number will increase considerably in the coming years.
The European Parliament has approved a budget of about €4.7 billion for the Erasmus+ programme, substantially increasing the financial allocation of the preceeding programmes. These funds are targeted to the benefit of young people from 13 to 30 years old to enable them to have a learning experience in a European country other than their own.The aim of the programmes is to promote youth mobility, allowing young people to acquire cross-cutting skills and language skills that are vital to find a job. Erasmus+ also supports partnerships between teaching institutions and businesses designed to improve the quality of education in the member states, making it easier for the students transition from schooling to the world of business. I have no doubt that youth organizations and youth workers do their utmost to promote youth participation in these programmes.
Dr Stefan Buontempo is parliamentary secretary for research, innovation, youth and sport