The European Parliament’s education committee wants €47.4 billion for Erasmus+ between 2028 and 2034, €6.6 billion more than the European Commission proposed. It also want grants reviewed against rising living costs and easier access for people who struggle to take part in exchanges.
The Committee on Culture and Education backed its position on Tuesday by 24 votes to one, with one abstention. Its rapporteur, Bogdan Zdrojewski (EPP/POL), said the aim was a larger programme with more opportunities to study, train or volunteer abroad and less paperwork for applicants. “We would like it to be around €50 billion,” he told journalists after the vote, describing €47.4 billion as a compromise within the committee.
The Commission proposed €40.8 billion for the next seven-year programme, up from €26.2 billion for Erasmus+ in 2021–27. The new proposal would also bring activities currently funded through the separate European Solidarity Corps into Erasmus+. Tuesday’s vote sets out the committee’s negotiating position; it does not settle the programme’s final budget.
Grants that keep up with costs
We will revise and review the amounts participants get on a regular basis. — Bogdan Zdrojewski (EPP/POL), rapporteur of the Committee on Culture and Education
Mr Zdrojewski argued that a larger budget would mean little to potential participants if grants failed to cover the cost of going abroad. “We will revise and review the amounts participants get on a regular basis,” he said, pointing to inflation and differences in living costs between destinations. He said the current system was often “playing a bit of catch-up”. His remarks did not set out a new grant amount or an automatic increase.
The committee wants the next programme to reach more apprentices, adults and young people in non-formal education. Mr Zdrojewski also singled out people facing financial barriers and those living in remote regions or islands, for whom travel can cost more. The challenge, he said, is to offer them additional help without reducing opportunities for existing participants.
Bringing the European Solidarity Corps into Erasmus+ is another substantial change. The Commission’s proposal would place learning mobility and volunteering within one programme. Mr Zdrojewski said the committee wanted to preserve the identity and useful practices of the Solidarity Corps rather than allow volunteering to disappear within a much larger Erasmus+ budget.
The committee also favours a larger share for grassroots sport. Mr Zdrojewski described opportunities for coaches, local associations and young people to take part in activities abroad, stressing that the proposal concerns participation in sport rather than professional competition.
A bigger budget still needs agreement
One point of dispute concerns new scholarships aimed at skills in strategic fields such as science and technology. Mr Zdrojewski said the committee supported those goals but worried that dedicated awards could draw money away from ordinary Erasmus+ mobility grants. He suggested that programmes such as Horizon Europe or the EU’s proposed Competitiveness Fund could help finance strategic scholarships instead.
The Council agreed a position on the programme’s rules in May, but left financial questions to the wider negotiations over the EU’s 2028–34 budget. Mr Zdrojewski said he hoped Parliament’s full chamber could vote on the committee report in November. The €47.4 billion figure would then face negotiations with governments.
The UK’s planned return to Erasmus+ in January 2027 will take place under the current programme, before the new one begins. Mr Zdrojewski welcomed its return, saying many students wanted the opportunity to go there. For the next programme, the unresolved question is how far governments will support the committee’s ambition once Erasmus+ competes with other demands on the EU budget.
