Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have now been working together for two years on the birth of Erasmus Mundus. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the Commission, the Council and all of my fellow Members of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport for the work that has been accomplished. By adopting the Erasmus Mundus programme for the period 2004-2008, the European Union will be creating a new instrument of exchange and cooperation in the field of higher education, with a view to forging links between European universities and creating a genuine European Higher Education Area, which alone will make it possible to attract students, teachers and researchers from across the world. I should like to remind you briefly of the main features of this programme. The first action consists of creating 250 European Masters Courses, known as 'Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses', with the label and support of the European Union. These Masters Courses, which will be selected for a period of five years, will have to involve a minimum of three higher education institutions from three Member States. They will lead to the award of officially recognised dual or multiple diplomas. The students following these Masters Courses will have to pursue their studies in at least two of the three associated universities. The second action consists of creating Erasmus Mundus scholarships for 4 200 students coming to Europe from third countries. The value of these scholarships is significant. They are on a par with the scholarships granted under the Fulbright programme in the United States. These students will receive an average of EUR 1 600 per month to study on a postgraduate course within Erasmus Mundus. The third action focuses on teaching staff. One thousand lecturers or researchers from throughout the world will be able to visit European universities for teaching or research assignments of an average of three months. They will receive a bursary of EUR 13 000 for the assignment. The fourth action consists of developing partnerships between higher education institutions in third countries and European universities. These partnerships will be based on joint projects lasting a maximum of three years. They will focus mainly on the mobility of European students and teaching staff outside Europe. The fifth and final action is to promote European higher education on the world stage. To publicise Erasmus Mundus throughout the world, the European Union will make financial support available for international promotion campaigns and for the provision of services that make information available to third-country students, thus facilitating their access to European universities. Finally, I should like to stress the priorities that Parliament has championed, and which have been given a favourable hearing by the Council and the Commission. First priority: the name of the programme, initially entitled Erasmus World, has become Erasmus Mundus, making it easier for people to identify it with the European Union. Second priority: to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity, we have given students the opportunity to learn at least two of the languages spoken in the countries where their universities are situated. Third priority: we wanted the 'Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses' to be selected on the basis not only of the quality of the training proposed but also of the quality of the student hosting. Fourth priority: we also insisted that the diplomas and studies be officially recognised, as this is essential if we are finally to move towards a European Higher Education Area. We need to create real freedom of movement for diplomas within the European Union. This tour of Europe that we are offering students from third countries will thus also benefit European students in the future if they so wish. Fifth and final priority – the fifth priority that we in the European Parliament championed: we have agreed a budget that is equal to the programme's ambitions. The Education Council proposed allocating this programme EUR 180 million. The Commission was proposing EUR 200 million. In this second reading, Parliament has succeeded in obtaining a budget of EUR 230 million. I should like to reiterate here, Commissioner, how much I have appreciated the positive spirit in which we – Parliament, the Commission and the Council – have all worked together. I think that we can be pleased with the advances constituted by the Erasmus Mundus programme. I hope that Erasmus Mundus enjoys the same success and the same popularity as its little brother, Erasmus, and that it will thus enable the Europe of knowledge, to which we all aspire, to become a reality.

Political group: PPE-DE