EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 30.5.2018 SWD(2018) 277 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT



IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing 'Erasmus': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Regulation (EU) 1288/2013 {COM(2018) 367 final}

{SEC(2018) 265 final}

{SWD(2018) 276 final}



Table of Contents 1.Introduction: Political and legal context 1.1.Political context 1.2.Scope of the impact assessment 1.3.Lessons learned from previous programmes 2.THE OBJECTIVES 2.1.Challenges for the programmes of the next MFF 2.2.Objectives of the programmes of the next MFF 3.Programme structure and priorities 3.1.Improvements proposed for the post 2020 Erasmus programme 3.2.Summary 3.3.Improvements according to budget scenarios 4.Delivery mechanisms of the intended funding 4.1.Management modes 5.How will performance be monitored and evaluated? 5.1.Monitoring arrangements of the future programme 5.2.Formal evaluation framework of the future programme 5.3.Legal basis indicators Annex 1: Procedural information

DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) is the lead DG for the Erasmus post 2020 initiative. Annex 2: Stakeholder consultation Stakeholder consultation synopsis report Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation consultation activities Open Public Consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility Conclusions Annex 3: Evaluation results Annex 4: Synergies with other MFF Funding Instruments



Glossary Term or acronym Meaning or definition EACEA Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency EAFRD European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development EC European Commission ECVET European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training EFTA/EEA European Free Trade Association/European Economic Area EIPA European Institute of Public Administration EIT European Institute of Technology ENIC/NARIC European Network of Information Centres in the European Region National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union EPALE Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe EQAR European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education EQAVET European Quality assurance for VET systems EQF European Qualifications Framework ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESF European Social Fund ESIF European Structural and Investment Funds ET Monitor Education and Training Monitor ETF European Training Foundation ETY Forum Education, Training and Youth Forum EU European Union EUs European Universities Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework Programme IA Impact Assessment IDOC Investigation and Disciplinary Office IT tools/systems Information Technology tools/systems KICs Knowledge and Innovation Communities KIIs Key Informant Interviews LEADER Links between actions for the development of the rural economy MFF Multi-annual Financial Framework MSCA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions NAs National Agencies NGOs Non-governmental Organisations OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OLAF European Anti Fraud Office (Office européen de lutte antifraude) OPC Open Public Consultation PIAAC Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies PISA Programme for International Student Assessment (OECD Survey) SALTO Resource Centres Support, Advanced Learning, and Training Opportunities STE(A)M Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics SWD Staff Working Document TALIS Teaching and Learning International Survey TCAs Training and Cooperation Activities UN SDGs United Nations Sustainable Development Goals VET Vocational Education and Training 1.Introduction: Political and legal context 1.1.Political context "Every euro that we invest in Erasmus+ is an investment in the future of a young person and of our European idea. I cannot imagine anything more worthy of our investment than these leaders of tomorrow. As we celebrate the 9 millionth person to take part, let’s make sure we are 9 times more ambitious with the future of our Erasmus+ programme". President Juncker, Strasbourg, 13 June 2017 Education, training and youth have recently come to the forefront of EU Leaders' attention. In the Bratislava Declaration of 16 September 2016, the leaders of 27 Member States underscored their determination to provide "better opportunities for youth". In the Rome Declaration , of 25 March 2017, the leaders of 27 Member States and of the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission" pledged to work towards "a Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent." Furthermore, the 1st principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights solemnly proclaimed and signed on 17 November 2017 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, holds that: "Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market." The importance of education, training and youth for Europe's future has also been reflected in the Commission's Communication of 14 February 2018 on A new, modern Multiannual Financial Framework for a EU that delivers efficiently on its priorities post-2020 " for a European Union that delivers efficiently on its priorities post-2020. It highlights that the Union budget will need to deliver on the promises made by Leaders, "including through the full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and supporting young people and the mobility of European citizens." Specifically on the future Erasmus programme, the Communication underlined that "There is a strong consensus for the need to step up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended Erasmus+ programme".

On 2 May 2018, the European Commission adopted its proposals for a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 "A Modern Budget for a Union that Protects, Empowers and Defends", calling for a stronger “youth” focus in the next financial framework. Building on its successful 30-year history, the Commission thus proposes a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended Erasmus programme, further promoting opportunities for more young people across the EU to study, train and work abroad. Under these proposals, the budget for the Erasmus programme will be doubled in size to reach €30 billion Euros (in current prices) over this period. The focus of the new Programme will be on inclusiveness and on reaching more young people with fewer opportunities. This impact assessment reflects the decisions of the MFF proposals and focuses on the changes and policy choices which are specific to this programme. The ambition for the next Erasmus programme goes hand in hand with the Commission's vision for a European Education Area by 2025. As announced in the Communication on Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture of 14 November 2017, the European Education Area stands for "a Europe in which learning, studying and doing research would not be hampered by borders. A continent, where spending time in another Member state – to study, to learn, or to work – has become the standard and where, in addition to one's mother tongue, speaking two other languages has become the norm; a continent in which people have a strong sense of their identity as Europeans, of Europe's cultural heritage and its diversity". One of the prominent work strands under the European Education Area is "to boost the tried-and-tested Erasmus+ programme in all categories of learners that it already covers (pupils, students, trainees, apprentices) and teachers with the aim of doubling the number of participants and reaching out to learners coming from disadvantaged backgrounds by 2025", while equipping Europeans with competences and skills needed in a society that is mobile, multicultural and increasingly digital. At the European Council of 14 December 2017, EU heads of state or government confirmed this ambition and called "on Member States, the Council and the Commission, in line with their respective competences, to take work forward with a view to stepping up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended Erasmus+ programme". In its Resolution of 14 September 2017 on the future of the Erasmus programme, the European Parliament emphasized "that Erasmus+ should ultimately be targeted towards all young people and that these higher sights for the next programming period should be reflected in an increased budget so as to unlock the full potential of the programme." While a key component on the road towards the creation of the European Education Area, the future Erasmus programme must also be equipped to provide an optimal contribution to the realisation of the Skills Agenda for Europe with a shared commitment to the strategic importance of skills for sustaining jobs, growth and competitiveness, the EU agenda to support young people through 'Investing in Europe's youth' and to the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education. Mobility, intercultural exchange and language learning will strongly contribute the promotion of common values and European identity. In addition, the next Erasmus programme should be prepared to serve the future overarching and sectoral policy agendas in education, training, youth and sport, in particular (a) school development and excellent teaching; (b) the Copenhagen process on vocational education and training; (c) the renewed EU agenda for higher education and the Bologna process; (d) the EU agenda for adult learning; (e) the renewed EU Youth Strategy; (f) the EU work plan for sport. The EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy of June 2016 and the European Consensus for Development adopted by Council on 19 May 2017 underline the importance of education and human development as instruments to address concerns linked to demographic trends outside the EU, and to migration, radicalisation and security challenges. These agendas must continue to rely on the support from the integrated nature of the Erasmus programme that covers lifelong learning in all contexts – whether formal, non-formal or informal (including through youth and sport activities) – and at all levels: from early childhood education, schools and vocational education and training, to higher education and adult learning. A coherent lifelong learning approach is central to managing the different transitions that people will face over the course of their life cycle. In taking this approach forward, the next Erasmus programme will maintain a close relationship with the overall strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training for the period after 2020, as well as reinforcing and developing new synergies with other related EU programmes (e.g. the future European Structural and Inverstment Funds and the Research and Innovation Framework Programme post 2020 (Horizon Europe) and other policy areas. 1.2.Scope of the impact assessment In compliance with Article 30.4 of the EU Financial Regulation, this impact assessment accompanies the Commission's legislative proposal for the establishment of the EU spending programme in the field of education, training, youth and sport, for the period after 2020. This initiative is being prepared in the context of the post-2020 Multi-Annual Financial Framework and builds on the results of the mid-term evaluation of the current Erasmus+ programme and its predecessor programmes. It aims specifically to:

1.propose a clear and coherent intervention logic for an EU programme promoting learning mobility, cooperation and policy development in the education, training, youth and sport fields; 2.assess a possible set of improvements compared to the Erasmus+ programme currently implemented, bearing in mind in particular the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality – and taking into account the lessons learned from the implementation of predecessor programmes; 3.analyse the outcomes of the open public consultation and other stakeholders' consultation activities organised by the Commission in the context of the impact assessment exercise. 1.3.Lessons learned from previous programmes 1.3.1 Mid-term evaluation The recently completed mid-term evaluation of Erasmus+ builds on National Reports submitted by all 33 Programme Countries, an evaluation report by an external independent contractor, reviewed studies, stakeholders' experience in managing the programme, and 1 million responses from all interested parties regarding retrospective achievements and offering views on future evolution of the programme. Its key findings are the following: Relevance: the mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ demonstrated that the programme is highly relevant towards its objectives. Overall, the programme is greatly valued by a broad variety of stakeholders as well as by the general public, benefiting from a strong brand name, recognised well beyond the group of direct beneficiaries. The single brand name has contributed to the programme's increased visibility and a progressively strong adherence by the sectors covered. The mid-term evaluation also found evidence that the programme is contributing to a more cohesive Union. However, while acknowledging that the current programme is reaching out to disadvantaged young people more than its predecessors (11.5% of the total number of participants in the current Erasmus+), the evaluation pointed out the need to widen the access to the programme, reach out to people with fewer opportunities and to facilitate the participation of smaller-sized organisations. The evaluation also identified insufficient or lack of foreign language skills as important factors that limit the access of hard-to-reach groups to transnational activities. The actions in the youth field have been the most successful in this regard, reaching out to young people with fewer opportunities (31% of beneficiaries), by applying inclusive, non-formal learning approaches. The mid-term evaluation found that the programme is effective in triggering innovation among organisations that participate in the programme. Nevertheless, such effects generally do not seem to go beyond the beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ grant. A limited level of innovation is achieved in particular in those sectors that do not benefit from dedicated actions such as knowledge alliances and sector skills alliances. The evaluation also found that the programme provided multiple opportunities for policy innovation and policy learning, but that the take-up of these innovations at national level remained inadequate. Erasmus+ has also proved important for the EU’s global outreach, notably by facilitating the cooperation between Europe and Partner Countries. The opening of Erasmus+ to Partner Countries around the world has contributed to the internationalisation of the EU's universities, opened up new opportunities - especially for participants and organisations from enlargement, neighbouring and developing countries - and contributed to disseminating EU values.

The evaluation noted that there is potential to introduce better-targeted actions to maximise the relevance of Jean Monnet, sport and adult learning activities. There is a need for greater understanding of European integration and a greater sense of belonging to Europe among the youngest generations, in the aftermath of economic and political crises of the last ten years. Effectiveness: robust evidence has been produced about the effectiveness of the programme at various levels i.e. strong and clear positive effects on individual young people and staff benefiting from the programme, as well as valuable impact on organisations and systems. The restructuring of the seven predecessor programmes into one single programme, with an integrated and simpler architecture, has strengthened its coherence in terms of alignment between types of actions funded and the programme's intervention logic. The programme has shown its capacity to expand and to adapt to new target groups as well as to continuously improve its delivery mechanisms. The evaluation also highlighted the increase of cooperation between actors from different education and training sectors, youth and sport; the improved geographical balance with small countries and countries from Central and Eastern Europe being better integrated. The evaluation recommended inter alia for the future programme to rationalise policy and thematic priorities as well as to reinforce the volume of activities in those sectors – notably school education, VET and youth - where the impact of the programmes was proven although not yet as widespread as in higher education due to smaller budget allocations. It also noted that the Master Loan Guarantee Facility has not lived up to volume expectations due to delays to its launch, low take-up among financial institutions and a lack of awareness among students. Efficiency: Erasmus+ has partially reduced the administrative burden for stakeholders and beneficiaries – e.g. enhancing digitalisation and introducing fast-track grant selection procedures. The mid-term evaluation found that the streamlined use of simplified grants improved all stages of the financial project management, especially by simplifying the processes of budget planning, reporting and accounting, while increasing flexibility. Reduced administrative burden enhanced the non-financial performance of the supported projects as beneficiaries were able to focus more on their projects' content. The mid-term evaluation called for even more simplified administrative procedures e.g. the amount of information required from the beneficiaries during the grants lifecycle, while the use of IT management tools should be lightened and made more proportionate with the grants levels. The evaluation acknowledged that the monitoring of programme implementation is more comprehensive and clearer than in predecessor programmes, but there is scope for a smarter collection and a better exploitation of data, enhancing transparency and accountability, and minimising reporting burdens. The hybrid combination of different programme management modes (direct and indirect) is fit for purpose with a good overall coordination, while the costs of programme management appear reasonable (6% of Erasmus+ administrative and operational budget) and lower than for similar programmes at national level (14% in average). Through decentralised actions (managed by the National Agencies), the programme gets close to their target audience and offers the possibility to align with national priorities, while the centralised actions support EU level priorities. The mid-term evaluation also recommends simplifying the application forms, reviewing the award criteria to better reflect key success factors for effectiveness and strengthening the review at mid-term in particular for bigger projects. However, the implementation of international actions in higher education increases the complexity of the programme. EU added value: the EU added value of the programme is uncontested. No other programmes funding mobility and cross-border cooperation in the sectors covered offer comparable scale and scope, efficiency, sectors and countries as Erasmus+. The evaluation found that in absence of the programme, the learners and staff mobility, as well as European cooperation in the sectors covered by the programme, would be substantially reduced. The mid-term evaluation also showed that the programme is actively building positive attitudes towards the EU and is contributing to the development of European identity, transversally across all activities funded. The evaluation also outlined the benefits of expanding activities specifically focused at improving knowledge and understanding of the EU through the Jean Monnet strand to cover other target groups, in particular school pupils and VET learners. Coherence and synergies: The evaluation found a high level of complementarity between Erasmus+ and other relevant EU policies and programmes (e.g. the Structural Funds and Horizon 2020) although the level of synergy varies and could be significantly enhanced. Table 1: Areas of improvement according to Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation 1. Relevance a)Inclusiveness: widen access to the programme (both for individuals and organisations). Better reach out to individuals with fewer opportunities b)European awareness: reinforce measures to foster understanding of European integration and sense of belonging to Europe c)Innovation: optimise the actions aimed at stimulating innovation, contributing to bridge the skills and competences gap d)Global outreach: increase international opportunities e)Maximise relevance and impact of adult learning, Jean Monnet and Sport actions 2. Effectiveness f)Rationalise policy priorities support to strategic thematic areas g)Reinforce the volume of activities in sectors which could expand their impact (VET, Schools and Youth) h)Review the Master Loan Guarantee Facility i)Better involve policy-makers in the design and implementation of policy calls 3. Efficiency j)Further simplify programme rules and administrative procedures, including on international actions k)Further optimise IT tools l)Reduce amount of information required from participants and beneficiaries 4. Synergies m)Reinforce and develop new synergies with other EU legal instruments and funds. The mid-term evaluation findings have been duly analysed by the Commission and correlated with the stakeholders' positions, as well as with the experience gained in the implementation of the programme. The Commission is addressing the mid-term recommendations in order to improve the programme implementation by accounting for actions that were critically evaluated, to reinforce the programme's efficiency and EU added value, and to mitigate any associated risks. Not all the problems identified in the mid-term evaluation will be necessarily tackled by new actions, nor would they require additional budget, but they could be addressed by better focus and rationalisation to increase efficiency.

In line with the EC Report, two time horizons are proposed: a) Within the current programming period. Certain recommendations can be addressed already in the on-going programme, as they entail streamlining and better focusing the running actions: ·the mid-term evaluation shows that the programme does reach out to people with fewer opportunities - 11.5% of the total number of participants in Erasmus+, but that further efforts can be made towards a more inclusive programme. Thus additional measures have been introduced in the 2018 calls for proposals: Top-up of financial support for mobility in Higher Education, providing additional financial support for students with fewer opportunities; coverage of exceptional costs under VET ·further reduction of the administrative burden and bureaucracy through mainstreamed use of online web forms that simplify the application process, simplified formats of actions targeting small-scale actors such as the School Exchange Partnerships that organise mobility activities for pupils. b) Post 2020. The future programme is an opportunity to address the mid-term evaluation recommendations by improving the existing actions directly in their design and implementation methods, while envisaging the programme within the broader logic for the education, training, youth and sport policy objectives (as detailed in section 3). 1.3.2 Stakeholder consultation during the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation Without prejudice to the next Multiannual Financial Framework, Member States expressed support for a more ambitious and more inclusive next generation Erasmus+ and for a substantial increase in its budget. When launched in 2014, Erasmus+ merged seven existing programmes into one single programme with a streamlined architecture based on three key actions as well as three specific strands for Youth, Jean Monnet and Sport activities. This integrated approach was a radical change from the past and caused a considerable amount of upheaval at the beginning of the implementation of the programme, but is now fully supported by Member States and stakeholders. The data collected during the consultations carried out by the Commission within the framework of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, showed unanimous support from Member States, learning institutions and participants for further strengthening of the programme while maintaining stability of the programme's basic architecture and structures: evolution, not revolution. Main areas of future improvement identified concerned further simplification and inclusiveness, and reviewing the balance between funding allocated and the subsequent volume of activities across the sectors. Stakeholders also underlined that the future Erasmus+ programme should remain integrated and underpinned by the lifelong learning concept. In their views, a modern programme must boost flexible learning paths and permeability between learning sectors, while combatting "dead ends” in education and training. Any attempt to unravel this integrated approach would be strongly resisted by stakeholders as it would be seen as a return to the previous century’s outdated separation of the education and training sectors. On the management side, stakeholders called for further decreasing the administrative burden, simplifying procedures and processes – also through the optimisation of IT tools as well as increasing budget flexibility. As regards the international actions of the programme in the field of higher education, which include a geographical matrix, they would benefit from further simplification in the implementing structures. The key messages from stakeholders are summarized in Annex 2 Stakeholders' consultation of the present Impact Assessment document. Table 2: Areas of improvements according to Erasmus+ consultation activities 1. Intervention logic a)Stability and continuity (in terms of scope, architecture and delivery mechanisms). b)More inclusive programme (reinforcing mobility of school pupils and targeting more participants with disadvantaged backgrounds). c)Build on the success of higher education and further expand other sectors. 2. Efficiency d)Simplify programme rules and reduce administrative burden, notably on decentralised international higher education actions. 4. Synergies e)Reinforce and develop new synergies with European Structural and Investment Funds and Research and Innovation framework programme.

1.3.3 Stakeholder consultation on the EU funding in the areas of values and mobility In addition to the consultations that were part of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, a separate open public consultation was carried out to seek inputs into the design of the future Erasmus programme post 2020. Erasmus is perceived as one of the EU’s most successful and highly relevant programmes. The stakeholders strongly underlined the EU added value of Erasmus as compared to similar national programmes (80% of respondents stated the programme adds value to a large or fairly good extent). Its main positive achievements and effects outlined by the results of the public consultation encompass: the unique combination of actions targeted at the individual, organisation and system levels in education and training, youth and sport; support for key competences, basic and transversal skills development, active citizenship, increased employability or career development, but also increased networking and mutual learning for organisations involved. The programme is perceived as sufficiently flexible to allow for adaptation to emerging policy challenges, while its integrated architecture and management modes are considered appropriate and fit for purpose. The main challenges of the future programme as underlined by the stakeholders cover competences and skills development, limited capacity of the programme to effectively reach out to most disadvantaged target groups; difficulties for grassroots organisations and newcomers to access the funding; limited possibilities for cross-sectoral cooperation. Current funding levels are perceived as a barrier for the programme to reach its full potential – i.e. unmet demand for funding as well as insufficient levels of individual mobility grants. Simplification was strongly advocated by the stakeholders - the main areas for improvement identified are the application and the reporting processes, as well as the financial rules, currently perceived as too complex. The Student Loan Guarantee Facility has proven limited efficiency thus the stakeholders recommend its phasing-out. With regard to the future programme objectives, the stakeholders emphasised the need to re-focus priorities towards more social inclusion and fairness, modernization of education and training, as well as more emphasis on European identity, active citizenship and participation to the democratic life. In this regard, Jean Monnet activities could be opened up to sectors other than higher education, in line with the recommendations of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation. Stakeholders' key messages referred to (not in order) enhanced short-term mobility options, opportunities for pupil mobility and enhanced adult mobility, mutual recognition of diplomas, more virtual tools, more small scale projects, increased budget for the programme, build stronger links with neighbouring countries and widen the geographical scope for the cooperation with the rest of the world, increased flexibility, extended opportunities of cross-sectoral co-operation. Stakeholders also called for greater synergies with European Social Fund and the Research and Innovation Framework Programme, as well as improvement of the dissemination and effective exploitation of project results. Table 3 Most important challenges to be addressed by the future programme The most important challenges to be addressed by the future programme are, according to the respondents to the OPC: ·Support lifelong skills development through learning mobility (69% of respondents see this challenge as very important and 25% as rather important); ·Promote social inclusion and fairness (68% and 24%); ·Support active citizenship, democratic participation in the society and the rule of law (61% and 26%); ·Promote modernisation of education and training (61% and 31%) ·Promote rights and equality (61% and 26%) The main obstacles to effectiveness identified by OPC respondents are: ·Lack of programme budget to satisfy the demand (44% think this is an obstacle to a large extent, 25% to a fairly large extent and 19% to some extent); ·Insufficient support for small scale stakeholders (30% large extent, 28% fairly large extent and 19% some extent) ·Limited support for funding cross-sectoral actions (27% large extent, 27% fairly large extent and 23% some extent) ·Low value of individual grants (26% large extent, 25% fairly large extent and 27% some extent) ·Lack of support for first time participants (25% large extent, 29% fairly large extent and 24% some extent)

The preferred areas for simplification as seen by OPC respondents are: ·Simplify application forms, reports and grant selection processes (71% believe this would be helpful to a large extent and 19% believe it would be helpful to a fairly large extent and 7% to some extent) ·Simpler access for newcomers and grassroots organisations (54% large extent, 25% fairly large extent, 13% some extent) ·Incentives for people with fewer opportunities (48% large extent, 27 fairly large extent, 14% some extent) ·Better coordination between different programmes and grants (42% large extent, 30% fairly large extent and 18% some extent). 2.THE OBJECTIVES 2.1.Challenges for the programmes of the next MFF 2.1.1 Current Erasmus+: key features (baseline scenario) Erasmus+ is one of the European Union's most successful and iconic programmes. Its well-known brand name projects a positive image of the Union: the programme is perceived as the third best EU achievement by the European citizens after peace and free movement. Over the past 30 years of existence, Erasmus+ has given 9 million people the chance to expand their horizons and acquire new knowledge and skills, including language competences, through study, traineeships, apprenticeships, youth exchanges, teaching and sport activities all over Europe and beyond. With an indicative financial envelope of €14.7 billion for the period 2014-2020, Erasmus+ also supports European countries to modernise and improve their education and training systems as well as their youth and sport policies, reinforcing their role as drivers for growth, competitiveness, innovation and social cohesion. The programme has the following architecture: Education and Training* Youth Sport Key Action 1 (mobility) Key Action 2 (cooperation) Key Action 3 (policy reform) Jean Monnet activities Key Action 1 (mobility) Key Action 2 (cooperation) Key Action 3 (policy reform) Sport activities * covering higher education, school education, vocational education and training, adult education The mid-term evaluation shows that the current integrated programme architecture in three key actions covering all sectors of the programme - has delivered positive results, notably in terms of improved quality and relevance of education and training systems, youth and sport; global outreach; internal coherence; efficiency gains and simplification; as well as cross-sectoral fertilisation and increased synergies across education, training, youth and sport sectors. Key Action 1 Mobility for young people, students, learners, and practitioners continues to be the backbone of the programme (ca. 65% of the budget for education, training and youth) and is well on track to meet its target of supporting 4 million people to undertake learning, training and personal development activities abroad, in Europe and beyond, by 2020.

Under Key Action 2, the programme supports a significant number of transnational and cross-sectorial partnership activities (representing ca. 25% of the budget for education, training and youth) involving education and training institutions, business and labour market players, youth and sport organisations, public bodies, civil society organisations across Europe and in other parts of the world. Key Action 3 of the programme provides support to the EU level framework of policy cooperation (ca. 5% of the budget for education, training and youth), thereby contributing to the development of new policies triggering modernisation and reforms, at EU and system level, in the fields of education, training youth and sport. The programme develops awareness about the European Union through the Jean Monnet activities (2% of the Erasmus+ budget), designed to promote excellence in teaching and research in the field of European Union studies worldwide. Erasmus+ also promotes the European dimension of Sport (2% of the total Erasmus+ budget), aimed to increase the level of participation and to develop innovative practices in sport and physical activity. Sport is recognised as an economic driver for jobs and growth and an important source of non-formal learning, including for disadvantaged groups. Erasmus+ has developed a successful and almost unique "indirect management" model whereby around 85% of the budget is implemented by National Agencies established in each of the Erasmus+ Programme Countries . The remaining 15% of the programme budget is implemented by the Commission (direct management), mainly through its Education and Audio-Visual Executive Agency (see section 4. Management modes). The programme makes a large use of simplified cost-options (lump sums, scales of unit costs) covering almost all grant-actions of the programme. The programme fully absorbs its budget appropriations (ca. €2.25 billion in average per year) regularly delivers its targets, supporting ca 725 000 mobility activities, reaching out to nearly 80 000 organisations and funding more than 20 000 projects across its different fields of action every year. The programme has a demonstrated impact upon individual learners - young people, pupils, students, trainees, VET learners and apprentices, as well as practitioners and professionals from education, training, adult learning, youth and sport organisations. It also has an impact upon organisations participating and systems that support them. The programme delivers on more than one level i.e. producing positive spill-over effects, for example individual staff mobility having impact on sending organisations. The baseline scenario consists of maintaining the status quo of the current programme as described above. Some efficiency gains could be introduced but without significant evolutions. This scenario represents the minimum critical mass investment in the field of education, training, youth and sport at EU level to continue to have a positive outcome. Areas such as sport, adult education and Jean Monnet, where findings of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation indicated scope for improvement, will be reviewed to provide more targeted support to a streamlined set of priorities responding to beneficiaries needs. This baseline scenario would also take into account the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 30 March 2019. While keeping stability and continuity with respect to the current programme, this impact assessment proposes a number of improvements (see section 3.1 Improvements proposed for the post 2020 Erasmus programme) that would allow the programme to better address the challenges outlined in the section below.

2.1.2 Future Erasmus: main challenges In the light of the findings of the mid-term evaluation and of the recent policy developments (see section 1.1. Scope and context), the following challenges need to be addressed in the future programme: A) Closing the knowledge, skills and competences gap In a fast-changing world – with rapid demographic, societal and technological changes - there is a clear need to provide individuals with the right set of knowledge, skills and competences, including language learning, in a lifelong learning perspective, to make them more resilient and sustain current standards of living, support high rates of employment and foster social cohesion . Moreover, evidence shows that investments in digital skills - as well as in those fields that are strategic for smart economic and social development (such as climate change, clean energy, STE(A)Ms, artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysis, design, etc.) - are determining factors for Europe's sustainable growth and cohesion. In today's highly competitive global environment, the challenges outlined above must also be seen in their international context. International activities within Erasmus would benefit from more intensity, volume and scope, allowing them to increase their potential to support excellence and competitiveness. B) Making Erasmus more inclusive (inclusion gap) In general terms, social exclusion - driven by family, social, and physical environment that can be conducive of discrimination and vulnerabilities - hinders access to quality education and the chances to successfully complete education and training. Social exclusion is at the same time the result and the cause for education poverty, a vicious circle perpetuated from one generation to the next. Learners with fewer opportunities and institutions from underperforming EU regions remain over-represented among the low achievers on basic skills (PISA results show that the risk of becoming a low-achiever is four times higher for pupils from a weak socio-economic background than from a strong one) show high rates of early schools leaving and insufficient higher education attainment and in general score low on other social indicators. First and second generation migrant children in schools are under-performing, partly as a result of inadequate support in the language of schooling. Constraints are particularly high for a segment of the population which is at risk of exclusion due to a number of causes: educational difficulties , economic, social or geographical obstacles, cultural differences and migrant background , disabilities or health problems. The lack of learning opportunities starts already at early age. Learning and development gaps among children from disadvantaged backgrounds are observed, leading to higher risks of school failure or early school leaving and consequently lowering success prospects later on in life. Early childhood education constitutes a key educational step that can deliver positive outcomes for society as early years are critical for shaping attitudes and behaviours of civic participation. Young people are among the most vulnerable groups when it comes to the risk of poverty and exclusion. Those already in difficulty lack sufficient support to avoid marginalisation. Re-motivating people and re-engaging them in their learning pathways requires extra efforts: exchanges but also cooperation with relevant organisations and support to education and training staff and youth workers, who act as a bridge with society, can be part of the solution, along with focus on learning outcomes. The situation is similar for the adults with disadvantaged socio-economic background that have the highest risk to stay inactive or to take up any kind of education or training. Persistent and growing social divisions also affect higher education: the dominant pattern of current participation in higher education is not as inclusive and diverse as it could be: people with fewer opportunities are under-represented and less likely to complete higher education; migrant groups have difficulties due to language barrier and obstacles in the recognition of qualifications. In line with the challenges outlined above, and while acknowledging the limits of the programme's intervention logic and scope, the inclusiveness dimension of the multi-faced Erasmus programme reflects the complexity of the sector and encompasses: ·on one hand, the support for people with fewer opportunities and disadvantaged socio-economic background, ·while on the other hand a more inclusive programme also means simplifying the access to the programme and broadening the societal participation.

At programme level, current Erasmus mobility activities have proven to be valuable experiences for people to gaining the knowledge, skills and competences needed for personal, educational, professional development, as well as civic engagement and social inclusion. However, only 12% of young people in the EU (aged 16-30) have travelled to another country for learning or for work, while a large majority (61%) of young Europeans do not perceive mobility as an attractive option. The current programme is unable to meet the high demand: only a minority of young people can currently benefit from an Erasmus experience - less than 4% of young people living in Europe today. The success rates of applications for several actions of the programme are significantly low and almost all sectors of the programme are not able to reach their full potential due to budget limitations. The current programme offers only limited mobility possibilities for school pupils, which is the most inclusive level of education in which all students, independently of social background, participate. Equally important, the programme is still insufficiently accessible for newcomers with little or no experience, or for organisations with smaller capacity, but also for new type of organisations such as regions, rural or deprived areas, or people with disabilities. C) Limited participation in democratic life and sense of European identity Although 70% of Europeans feel they are citizens of the EU today, with the percentage even higher among the younger generations, there is a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of the EU's basic functioning, objectives, 'raison d’être', as well as of the EU's added value for its citizens. This can lead to misinformation and can hinder the development of informed opinions on EU actions. In this regard it is also important to recognise the impact of adults (whether parents, teachers, trainers, media personalities or politicians) on the views and attitudes of the younger generations: the programme will also need to target these significant ‘influencer’ groups in order to encourage them to better understand and share European values; here, the progress made on inter-generational learning by earlier programmes can play a significant role. There is a need to bring the EU to the school. Almost nine in ten young people in the EU believe that there should be stronger school education about rights and responsibilities as an EU citizen . Schools have a key role to play in the development of civic education and knowledge . When looking at young Europeans understanding of the EU, beyond basic facts, their knowledge of more advanced matters is low . At the same time, the coverage of teaching about the EU in national curricula is very fragmented and the citizenship dimension is mostly missing . There is also a need for bringing Europe together - East and West, North and South - to strengthen awareness of European identity in all its diversity and reinforce the sense of being part of a cultural community. Moreover, many citizens are reluctant to, or face difficulties, in actively engaging and participating in their communities or in the EU's political and social life (e.g. only 28% of the 18-24 years old voted during 2014 European Parliament elections). Language learning, including the language of the neighbouring country, supports the creation of European identity, the interest in exchange and cooperation across borders and the mutual understanding of people at all ages. By promoting transnational mobility and by providing participants with tools (notably the Online Linguistic Support) and funding to learn any of the official EU languages, the programme will contribute to the ambitious goal of promoting the learning of at least two foreign languages. In general, there is a need to empower all people to become more active citizens willing and capable to participate fully in society. This requires renewed efforts from an early age across all educational levels and sectors. There is a need to foster youth work practices and better exploit synergies between formal and non-formal learning to allow young people experience participation and democratic values in practice. However, opportunities for young people and people with fewer opportunities to be involved in policy development and participate in democratic decision-making processes are currently limited. This is also the case for the development and use of innovative youth work and adult learning methods and practices to raise levels of civic participation in society. D) Limited opportunities for and access to cooperation between organisations from different countries Institutions and organisations active in formal and non-formal education play a fundamental role in equipping individuals with forward-looking knowledge, skills and competences needed to absorb the technological and economic mutations and to adequately fulfil the potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, in particular within the digital economy . Transnational or international cooperation is a catalyst for innovative or value-added ways to support learners in their personal, educational and professional development, while it also facilitates circulation of ideas and the transmission of practices and expertise, thus contributing to high quality education. The intensity and capacity of cooperation activities spawned by Erasmus, both at European and international level, remain insufficient, especially among small scale or grass-root organisations. The degree of cooperation is not equally intense i) across sectors e.g. schools, adult learning or youth associations are not cooperating as extensively as they could outside their country, ii) nor across countries and regions. This situation hampers institutional reforms and the modernisation of education, training and youth systems at national and at European level (e.g. implementing the Bologna reforms for qualifications recognition), but also limits the development of a positive attitude towards the EU. The cooperation activities undertaken within Erasmus have led to the development of the organisations' international outlook, attractiveness and visibility at global level, in particular in the higher education sector. Obstacles to transnational and international cooperation act as a brake on the transmission of innovation, knowledge and excellence. Therefore, amplified efforts and a long-term vision for education and training institutions are still needed to enable the next generation of creative Europeans to solve the big societal challenges, as well as to empower education providers to act as real drivers for educational and research innovation, generating benefits for the European economy and its citizens. Equally important, insufficient European cooperation also hinders the convergence towards open and inclusive European societies: e.g. current migration waves increase the need for actions in the field of education, training, youth and sport to facilitate migrants' integration in society. For example, first and second generation migrant children in schools are under-performing also due to language barriers. Further efforts are needed to equip stakeholders in the front line - such as schools and grassroots organisations that work directly with disadvantaged learners - with the right tools to face these challenges, thus enhancing educational equity and equal opportunities, and building more cohesive societies.

There is also a need to support further the functioning of the European framework for policy cooperation, enabling Member States to exchange, experiment and mutually learn from their respective policies and practices. In addition, the exploitation of innovative processes and methods arising from Erasmus+ projects results remains limited and is not always properly scaled-up in national policies. E) Insufficient scope and volume of international (non-EU) mobility and cooperation Although considered as a positive novelty of the programme and as a proven instrument to support the achievement of EU internal and external policies such as Enlargement, Neighbourhood, Cooperation and Industrialised Countries or Development policies, the international (non-EU) mobility opportunities offered under Erasmus are currently limited, both in scope (only available for higher education and youth, but not for areas like VET and sport) and in volume. There is also a need to intensify international cooperation with Industrialised and Emerging Countries to support European institutions and organisations to face the challenges of a globalised world. EU cooperation with partner countries contributes to human development and engagement of young people which is core to building more resilient societies to enhance trust between cultures and improve the image of the EU abroad. 2.1.3 Cross-cutting issues F) Simplification One of the challenges of the future programme is to strike the right balance between simplification and administrative requirements, i.e. between the need to: -ensure the programme's accessibility to the widest possible range of stakeholders, avoiding that administrative tasks are unnecessarily complicated and/or take excessive time of educators and project managers, thus negatively impacting on the inclusiveness and the quality of the activities funded under the programme and its image among the target groups while; -ensuring a qualitative and transparent selection of projects, a correct grant-management cycle with minimised financial risks for the Union, a qualitative standard of the activities financed to safeguard the interests of the individuals taking part in them and ensure the reputation of the programme, a proportionate collection of outputs and results that would allow the Commission to be accountable on programme's performance. Another challenge in terms of efficiency and simplification is to lower the level of complexity in the implementation of the decentralised higher education international actions of the programme. Currently, some parts of these actions are funded from four different EU external cooperation instruments financed under external cooperation Heading 4 of the EU budget and from the European Development Fund. G) Coherence Maintaining the coherence between the various EU programmes is a major challenge for the future Multiannual Financial Framework. Other mobility schemes exist under the remit of different policy areas. Those mobility schemes with a strong learning dimension would benefit from additional coherence. The future Erasmus programme could be used as a vehicle for their streamlined implementation. This solution would offer mainstreamed support for these schemes and a streamlined implementation of mobility formats (single-rule book) for beneficiaries and participants (e.g. digital traineeship mobility), enhanced implementation coherence, further simplification and efficiency gains, as well as flexibility for the programme to adapt to new emerging priorities. H) Synergies

There is a need to better exploit the significant potential for complementarities and synergies between Erasmus and other EU funding instruments. In particular, synergies between Erasmus and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the Research and Innovation Framework Programme (Horizon Europe), etc., remain untapped under the current programming period. Notably due to the differences in the respective intervention logics, management modes and the architecture of the instruments concerned, synergies have effectively taken place only in very limited cases. Yet, since Erasmus and the ESIF both support the qualitative development of lifelong learning, education, training and youth systems in the EU, there is a great potential and a real need to better exploit the high level of complementarities between Erasmus and the structural funds. For the future MFF period, the challenge is to reinforce these synergies and accompany them with appropriate delivery mechanisms to ensure their concrete implementation. Regarding the next Research and Innovation Framework Programme (Horizon Europe), new synergies between Horizon Europe and Erasmus could be developed to foster opportunities to support the development of the knowledge triangle – education, research and business – to nurture the creation of European-scale innovation ecosystems and to support innovative practices and deliverables in forward-looking sectors. Erasmus could play an instrumental role in helping mainstreaming certain innovative developments piloted by the European Institute of Technology (EIT) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). At the same time, there is a need to establish a framework for cooperation and coordinated implementation of Erasmus and other EU programmes, for instance the European Solidarity Corps which has common governance and delivery mechanisms, Table 3. Challenges tree and the findings of the mid-terms evaluation and stakeholders' consultation 2.2.Objectives of the programmes of the next MFF 2.2.1 General objective The general objective of the Programme is to support the educational, professional and personal development of people in education, training, youth and sport, in Europe and beyond, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, jobs and social cohesion and to strengthening European identity. As such, the Programme shall be a key instrument for building a European education area, supporting the implementation of the European strategic cooperation in the field of education and training, with its underlying sectoral agendas, advancing youth policy cooperation under the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and developing the European dimension in sport. 2.2.2. Specific objectives To achieve the general objective described above the following specific objectives will be pursued: ·Promote learning mobility of individuals, as well as cooperation, inclusion, excellence, creativity and innovation at the level of organisations and policies in the field of education and training; ·Promote non-formal learning mobility and active participation among young people, as well as cooperation, inclusion, creativity and innovation at the level of organisations and policies in the field of youth; ·Promote learning mobility of sport coaches and staff, as well as cooperation, inclusion, creativity and innovation at the level of sport organisations and sport policies. 2.2.3. Operational objectives The specific objectives will be pursued through the following operational objectives.

Key Action 1 – Learning mobility: ·Support learning mobility opportunities within Europe and beyond ·Support youth participation activities ·Support DiscoverEU activities ·Support mobility of sports coaches and staff ·Provide language learning opportunities Key Action 2 - Cooperation among organisations and institutions: ·Foster excellence and innovation, including through the establishment of networks of organisations and institutions, at various levels ·Ensure better outreach to local level ·Promote cooperation and exchanges of practices, including through digital tools within Europe and beyond Key Action 3 - Support to policy development and cooperation: ·Support the preparation and implementation of the European policy cooperation frameworks ·Support bodies, Union tools and measures that foster quality, transparency and recognition of competences, skills and qualifications ·Foster dialogue and cooperation with key stakeholders, including EU-wide networks, European NGO's, and international organisations. ·Support bodies and activities that contribute to the implementation of the (post 2020) Erasmus Programme ·Raise awareness about European policy outcomes and priorities, as well as on the (post 2020) Erasmus programme

The objectives shall also be pursued through Jean Monnet Actions ·Support a Jean Monnet action in the field of higher education; ·Support a Jean Monnet action in other fields of education and training; ·Support institutions pursuing an aim of European interest . 3.Programme structure and priorities The optimal scenario proposed in this Impact Assessment is characterised by improvements implemented without affecting the general stability of the programme (in terms of structure and scope), building up on Erasmus current actions, and ensuring continuity with the current programme. This approach is a vehicle to increasing its impact. Stability and continuity with the current programme is maintained in terms of structure, in line with the views expressed by Member States and stakeholders- evolution not revolution for Erasmus post 2020. The draft legislative proposal will be structured around three chapters, as follows: Education and Training* Youth Sport Key Action 1 (mobility) Key Action 2 (cooperation) Key Action 3 (policy) Jean Monnet Key Action 1 (mobility) Key Action 2 (cooperation) Key Action 3 (policy) Key Action 1 (mobility) Key Action 2 (cooperation) Key Action 3 (policy) * covering higher education, school education, vocational education and training, adult education In terms of scope, the programme will continue to cover all education and training sectors - schools, vocational education and training, higher education and adult learning - youth and sport, but in a more streamlined manner with better focused and aligned priorities. In addition, the programme could be enlarged to cater for the new priority areas. The improvements proposed will be integrated in the current programme architecture and will use the existing delivery mechanisms. To maintain a sufficient level of performance and impact for the three key actions, the programme will need to preserve a critical mass for the intervention to be meaningful at EU level. 3.1.Improvements proposed for the post 2020 Erasmus programme

In line with the mid-term recommendations and stakeholders opinions, the approach for the future programme post 2020 will be twofold: 3.1.1. Maintain stability, with enhanced focus of the existing actions, clarity of the objectives and increased efficiency – the actions will be streamlined and reorganised to correct their deficiencies and enhance their efficiency and added value. This rationale is linked to a pertinence analysis based on the renewed support from the Member States and stakeholders, on the political relevance of these actions, as well as on the call to maintain stability for the programme actions and architecture. For smaller scale actions - such as Jean Monnet and Sport, an analysis has been undertaken to assess their financial impact in light of their added value and relevance for the stakeholders, in particular, the role of sport as a catalyser for social inclusion and the role of Jean Monnet for raising awareness on EU integration in Europe and world-wide. Maintaining support for these actions under the Erasmus programme remains relevant as there are clear benefits for participating organisations, in particular the small scale grass-root ones. Consequently, it is proposed to mitigate the shortcomings identified by the mid-term through scaling up and better focus of these actions: ·For Sport, it will be ensured at strategic programming level that no overlaps occur with actions under the youth strand, and that the sport actions reach a sufficient critical mass and scale. Efficiency gains will be achieved by a new format for the sport actions, reinforcing synergies and avoiding overlaps – i.e. sport actions embedded under key actions 1, 2 and 3. ·Similar scrutiny has been undertaken for Jean Monnet actions. The analysis - corroborated with the mid-term findings and the stakeholders' consultations – pointed towards the need to: a) purely discontinue certain actions that have proven inefficient and that are not bringing sufficient added value (as detailed here after), and b) maintain a limited number of actions in the programme with improved design and focused target groups. ·For the Adults sector, the mid-term evaluation noted that there is potential to increase the EU added value by better targeted actions. The evaluation also underlined "that the impact on the adult learning sector, which currently targets a wide population, is diluted due to the fragmented and diverse nature of the sector". Along these lines, further simplification measures are proposed, while the target group for the mobility actions that is proposed to be maintained in the future programme has been refocused to only cover group mobility for adults with low basic skills, as it has been found highly cost efficient. In terms of efficiency, the mid-term evaluation found that Erasmus mobility actions are clearly cost-effective, especially learners' mobility (with an average cost for the EU of 15€ per day/learner). Furthermore, the programme will continue its efforts to improve its overall efficiency. For example, economies of scale could be achieved through enhanced simplification resulting in reduced management costs for the participating organisations and thus efficiency gains at stable or regressive fixed costs for implementing the programme. 3.1.2. Discontinuing certain underperforming actions, in line with the lack of efficiency delineated by the evaluation: - The Student Loan Guarantee Facility introduced within Erasmus, was deemed by the mid-term evaluation and by the stakeholders' opinions to have been unsuccessful in attracting financial intermediaries in sufficient numbers, in particular for the incoming student segment, and to be insufficiently tailored to address the needs of the disadvantaged. As a consequence, since it has not lived up to volume expectations, the Master Loan Guarantee Facility would be discontinued under the future Erasmus. - Jean Monnet support for associations to carry out statutory activities of associations dealing with EU studies and EU issues – these actions will be phased out on the grounds of efficiency, in line with the mid-term evaluation.

Discontinuing certain actions will liberate resources within the budget envelope and will allow better focus on activities that have proven their added value. 3.1.3. A limited set of new measures are proposed in line with the broader ambition for the new programme (further detailed under the following section): - European Universities - Centres of vocational excellence. Within this context, in line with the mid-term evaluation findings and the stakeholders' views, Erasmus aims to maintain its current architecture and activities that have proven their added value and make the best use of current infrastructure and delivery mechanisms. For the purposes of this Impact Assessment, the following possible rationalised and improved actions have been outlined: 1) Forward-looking knowledge, skills and competence development, new alliances with the relevant stakeholders OECD studies indicate that "relatively small improvements in the skills of a nation’s labour force can have very large impacts on future well-being ." Therefore, maintaining high-quality public investment to boost knowledge-intensive and sustainable growth in Europe, making the link between the cognitive skills and the economic growth, is key in reaching this goal and in ensuring a more equal income distribution. The next Erasmus programme is expected to benefit individuals through its knowledge, competences and skills building support, thus making people more dynamic and allowing them to get more personal return on education through improved access to fair and better jobs and living conditions. A better educated society contributes to economic growth and advances the innovative capacity, referred to as the social return to education. President Juncker has made "the case for the economic value of every Euro invested in education and training, youth and sport", for tapping the potential of private investment through strategic partnerships and for unlocking the potential of education and training for the EU competitiveness. Mobility and cooperation with a forward-looking dimension. Within the next programme, certain existing actions would be partially steered towards activities that foster the development of competences in forward looking fields or disciplines - such as STE(A)Ms, digital skills, climate change, environmental protection, sustainable development, clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysis, design, etc. which have a high potential to address the skills shortage and stimulate excellence. Impact: This measure would aim to increase the volume of students that find interest in these fields, with an expected long-term impact on Europe's knowledge, research, innovation and entrepreneurial capacity and on its social sustainability. The measure is expected to stimulate brain gain in forward looking fields, attracting excellent students to EU universities or sending EU top students abroad. These exchanges would also reinforce the links between education and the private sector within the knowledge triangle. EU added value: raising the profile of these fields of study and stimulating Europe's expertise in these areas is strategic in order to strengthen EU competitiveness and innovation capacity in key sectors of the future. The transnational and international dimension of the supported activities would nurture talents and develop connections in sectors that require a high degree of internationalisation. This measure would contribute to enlarged volume of skilled professionals, whom have benefited from an international experience and have acquired the technical as well as the associated transversal skills in demand for these specific sectors. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) C) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Low* Impact on EU budget Low *Implemented as a priority in existing actions under Key Action 1 (mobility) and Key Action 2 (e.g. partnerships for innovation and international partnerships) European Universities. A more ambitious level of cooperation and integration within networks of European Universities would aim to support the development of a shared, integrated, long term strategic vision for education, research and innovation, offering joint/integrated programmes and degrees with embedded mobility windows to amplify transnational mobility within a number of higher education institutions from different countries, allowing European universities to seamlessly cooperate across borders. These European Universities would act as drivers of educational innovation and cross-disciplinary cooperation, promoting exchanges between research teams and academic staff and bringing a new generation of creative Europeans together, able to cooperate seamlessly across borders and across disciplines, using different languages, in particular on forward-looking study fields that address important societal challenges and skills shortages that Europe faces. In terms of relevance, the consulted stakeholders see a great need and potential for this type of cooperation platforms that will allow for better integration of the studies Europe-wide, in order to be more responsive to the modern societal challenges. Furthermore, this activity is coherent and is contributing to the broader EU level policy objective of building a European Education Area by 2025. A relatively limited number of European Universities are projected for the seven years duration of the programme. To preserve effectiveness, it is proposed that the networks be embedded in the centralised management mode.

Impact: European Universities would act as a real game changer in Europe by opening up study programmes with embedded mobility at Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels; creating new joint curricula based on forward looking-skills and cross-disciplinary/multi-disciplinary approaches; and fostering the creation of multidisciplinary and competitive education and research teams where students, lecturers, researchers and local ecosystems co-create/co-share knowledge and innovation. EU added value: The expected impact is to shape the next generation of creative and innovative European citizens and help establish a true European mind-set. These networks would attract students, researchers, businesses and investment and enhance the performance and competitive advantage of European higher education institutions thus contributing to building the European Education Area. European Universities would drive educational and research innovation at European level by making best use of innovative pedagogical instruments and digital technologies. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) C) D) E) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium/High* Impact on EU budget High *Implemented as a new action under Key Action 2, in synergy with other actions of Key Action 1 and Key Action 2, as well as with the successor programme of Horizon2020 and Structural Funds. Centres of vocational excellence This initiative will support the development of trans-national platforms of centres of vocational excellence closely integrated in local and regional strategies for growth, innovation and competitiveness, while supporting overall structural changes and economic policies in the EU. The Centres would strive to develop high quality VET curricula and qualifications focused on meeting current and emerging sectoral skills needs and would offer transnational joint VET programmes / qualifications with a strong element of work-based learning, digital content and mobility experience. They would act as drivers of excellence and innovation in VET, promoting a proactive role of VET in economic development and innovation strategies. Impact: Centres of vocational excellence would act as catalyst of substantial innovation in the way VET provision is developed and provided through the design of joint VET curricula which respond to EU-wide sectoral developments with a strong focus on digital training content. The Centres would be established partnerships with innovation ecosystems within regions in which they will operate. EU added value: The Centres will create synergies in addressing emerging sectoral skills needs, need for mobility and reforms in VET supporting excellence and innovation (including the digital training content). The networks would address the missing element of a proactive role of VET in innovation systems. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) D) E) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium Impact on EU budget Medium *Implemented as a new action under Key Action 2, in synergy with other actions of Key Action 1, as well as with Structural Funds. Partnerships for innovation Rationalise the existing tried and tested Erasmus actions aimed at fostering innovation in education, training, youth and sport. This action would build on results achieved through different actions of the current Erasmus programme, and notably: the Knowledge Alliances, the Sector Skills Alliances, the Forward Looking Cooperation projects and a segment of ambitious result-oriented Strategic Partnerships. Through the angle of education, training, youth and sport, the goal would be to support innovation for economic growth (in particular the synergies between higher education, VET and business/industry) as well as to foster social innovation with the ambition to create long-lasting changes to solve societal problems. Impact: Innovation is essential for sustainable growth, social cohesion and economic development. Stimulating innovation is crucial for the creation of modern educational systems that provide the right set of competences to future generations of Europeans. People today are increasingly faced with uncertainties about their future, as a result of rapid technological change, major sustainable development challenges, demographic trends, migration. In this context, providing modern and innovative learning environments would allow young people and adults to become resilient and learn how to cope in a rapidly changing world. EU added value: The transnational dimension of the supported activities would develop connections in sectors that require a high degree of internationalisation. The support of innovation at EU level would also foster cross-fertilisation between countries, helping Members States to progress at a similar pace in the modernisation and innovation of their systems and policies. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) C) D) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Low* Impact on EU budget Medium

*Implemented as a new action under Key Action 2; Rationalisation of existing Key Action 2 and Key Action 3 actions; Synergies with the successor programme of Horizon2020 2) "Erasmus - a reality for all": a more inclusive programme, reaching out to those from disadvantaged backgrounds The future programme aims to reinforce its inclusive dimension by reinforcing and adapting the current tried and tested measures with a view to: a) step up efforts to make the programme more inclusive for people with fewer opportunities, including people with disabilities and minorities b) widen the access to a larger target group of individuals and organisations in Europe and beyond. This objective will be achieved by a series of measures such as: ·fostering participation of smaller-sized organisations, in particular small and community-based grassroots organisations, that work directly with disadvantaged learners of all ages, to reach out to "non-elite" groups of learners. The proposed small-scale partnerships aim to foster capacity building, social commitment and entrepreneurial spirit, benefiting local communities. These partnerships are also expected to produce improved methods and practices that enable active involvement of young people and allow to better targeting of disadvantaged groups. ·adapting the level of financial support for the mobility of individuals to fit the needs of people with fewer opportunities, in line with the living and subsistence costs of the host country. Providing increased financial support for individual mobility will have the effect of broadening the segment of participants covered by the programme and allow for mobility to become a regular pattern in every person education and training pathway. ·blended and virtual mobility and learning, making full use of digital innovations, will enable the programme to reach out to larger target groups using a limited set of resources, for example non-mobile students, thus increasing the integration of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in education and training, youth and sport activities ·boosting school, VET and youth mobility to extend opportunities, widen the programme's accessibility, and reinforce the lifelong learning dimension stimulating up- and re-skilling. ·introducing more flexible learning mobility formats - such as short term, group or virtual mobility – which would be more relevant to the needs and possibilities of certain target groups; ·supporting learning mobility of low-skilled adults, often from disadvantaged backgrounds. Erasmus actions have inspired new ways of working with people with fewer opportunities, across sectors, with significant spill over effects even where the main objective of the activities is not to target these groups (i.e. impacts beyond results) . The main improvements that could be proposed under the next Multiannual Financial Framework period are described below.

Mobility of school pupils. Supporting short and long term individual/group mobility of pupils (general primary and secondary education) during their key formative years enable school pupils from different countries to have a first-hand transnational European learning experience, to develop their understanding of the diversity of European cultures and languages, and to acquire social, civic and intercultural competences. In line with the mid-term evaluation findings that outlined difficulties regarding the access to pupils' mobility via the cooperation projects under the current programme (key action 2), it is proposed to transfer existing mobility of school pupils under the mobility strand of the programme (key action 1) to further simplify the access. Projects will be approved based on schools' needs analysis, a plan for development of European cooperation and presentation of the quality assurance mechanisms for the proposed activities. Impact: this initiative would de facto extend mobility opportunities for young people in Europe and widen the access to the programme to people from different backgrounds, including with fewer opportunities, with a direct impact on reaching critical mass for the programme and boosting the inclusion dimension of the programme. In addition, the initiative would enable an enhanced contribution of the programme to the development of knowledge, skills and competences for young people, promote language leaning from an early age, as well as foster European awareness and sense of belonging to the EU. EU added value: The transnational dimension of this action would bring a clear EU added value, considering that there are no other national or European schemes that offer a comparable scale of activities, also in terms of geographical scope. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium/Low* Impact on EU budget High *Implemented as a new action under Key Action 1, largely based on existing mobility formats. Phase out of mobility under Key Action 2 to ensure better coherence and simplification. Boost VET learners' mobility. Increase the number of short and long term individual/group mobility opportunities offered to VET learners and apprentices. VET tends to host the higher share of students in situations of disadvantage e.g. more young people at risk of early school leaving tend to be concentrated in VET than in general education . Therefore, increasing the number of mobility activities in VET should result in diversifying the profiles of participants, while attracting more VET learners with fewer opportunities. Impact: this initiative would de facto extend mobility opportunities for young people in Europe and widen the access to the programme with a direct impact on reaching critical mass for the programme. In addition, the initiative would enable an enhanced contribution of the programme to the development of knowledge, skills and competences for young people, including the learning of languages, as well as foster European awareness and sense of belonging to the EU. EU added value: The transnational and international dimension of this action would bring a clear EU added value, considering that there are no other national or European schemes that offer a comparable scale of activities, also in terms of geographical scope. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) Impact on Erasmus structure Low* Impact on EU budget High *Reinforcement of an existing action under Key Action 1. Boost and diversify youth mobility. Increase the number of mobility and activities offered to young people and youth workers to acquire competences, develop awareness of values and discover Europe through non-formal learning activities and promote quality and innovation in youth work. New formats and the virtual dimension of mobility will be explored to reach a wider and more diverse audience and make them enthusiastic to learn about, experience and discover Europe, its people and cultures, This would entail supporting large-scale activities (building on European Youth Together) involving young people from different countries from different parts of Europe – East/West – North/South, enabling young Europeans to engage in networks to learn about each other's countries and cultures, see diversity as an enrichment and discover a sense of belonging to the EU. Reinforce youth participation Support a series of measures that aim to foster youth participation in democratic life, in line with the EU Youth Strategy. Enlarge further the outreach of the Structured Dialogue beyond youth organisations active in EU matters, including at the local level and embrace a more diverse audience, in particular young people with fewer opportunities. In addition to the appreciated EU Youth conferences and meetings, the EU Youth Dialogue will embrace new and alternative forms of participation, including online campaigns, consultations via digital platforms connected to the European Youth Portal. The programme will also encourage the use of innovative and alternative forms of democratic participation and debate about the EU for example based on the toolkit developed under the ' New Narrative for Europe' , initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue with policy makers, as well as 'learning to participate' activities, for example through youth work, youth parliaments or simulations, actions around civic education and media literacy.

Impact: these two initiatives above would de facto extend mobility opportunities for young people in Europe and widen the access to the programme including to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a direct impact on reaching critical mass for the programme. In addition, the initiative would enable an enhanced contribution of the programme to the development of knowledge, skills and competences for young people, promote language leaning as well as foster European awareness and sense of belonging to the EU. As shown by the mid-term evaluation, Youth sector actions have high performance and impact in terms of social inclusion, especially in learning to learn, developing cultural awareness and building self-confidence. EU added value: The transnational and international dimension of this action would bring a clear EU added value, considering that there are no other national or European schemes that offer a comparable scale of activities, also in terms of geographical scope. For in-country activities, the European added value would be determined by the fact that supported activities would be clearly linked to European policy priorities in the field of youth (e.g. EU Youth Dialogue). Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) C) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium/Low* Impact on EU budget High *Reinforcement of an existing action under Key Action 1. Decentralised actions promoting dialogue between young people and decision-makers moved from Key Action 3 to Key Action 1. New youth participation activities and activities to experience Europe developed under Key Action 1. Maximise the relevance of adult learning actions. Learning is a must for all nowadays. Adults should engage in various learning activities throughout their life-cycle, irrespective of their previous levels of education and training. Current efforts deployed by the Member States in the adult education and training sector reached heterogeneous critical mass levels and operating scale to face the challenges of a continuously transforming labour market. There is a need for the education and training provisions at European level to better address the adults sector, through innovative approaches for cooperation and methods of teaching and learning. The current context indicates a need for addressing the learning needs of the whole population, with a specific focus on inclusion of low-skilled people. The goal for the future programme would be to strengthen links to the EU policy priorities in the field of adult learning by supporting actions that focus on upskilling low-skilled and poorly educated adults, as well as actions that foster active citizenship, democratic participation, and a sense of European identity. Low level of basic skills for adults hinder personal, social and professional fulfilment, while reducing personal independence and self-confidence, ability to deal with changes, as well as participation in a democratic society. Current migration waves increase the need for basic skills learning to facilitate migrants' integration in society. For the Adults sector, the mid-term evaluation noted that there is potential to increase the EU added value by better targeted actions. The number of priorities under the Strategic Partnerships under Key Action 2 could be radically reduced – e.g. from currently 12 to up to 2 or 3 - to further enhance simplification and clarity of the actions and to facilitate access to the programme. In addition, the group mobility of adult learners, as one element of a larger pedagogical project, would continue to be supported – framed within the context of Key Action 2 cooperation partnerships - as it has been found very cost efficient and its relevance was outlined during the stakeholders' consultations. Continue supporting group mobility of adult learners, while focussing only on the low-skilled, with a limited number of priorities, will allow to reinforce both the inclusive dimension of the programme and to focus better the use of to maximise EU-funding impact on the Adult sector. Impact: This initiative would de facto create mobility opportunities for a specific spectrum of adults in Europe and widen the access to the programme to more people with fewer opportunities. It would also improve the acquisition of basic skills (literacy, numeracy and digital skills) for people with fewer opportunities, thus extending the inclusiveness of the programme. It would support activities promoting active citizenship and common European values for the EU population as well as for newly arrived migrants. The initiative would enable an enhanced contribution of the programme to the development of knowledge, skills and competences, promote language learning as well as foster European awareness and sense of belonging to the EU. EU added value: The transnational dimension of this action would bring a clear EU added value, considering that there are no other national or European schemes that offer a comparable scale of activities, also in terms of geographical scope. Enhanced European cooperation in the field of adult education supports the convergence towards open and inclusive European societies. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) C) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium* Impact on EU budget High * Partially implemented under existing Key Action 1 actions, and partially implemented as a new horizontal action under Key Action 1. Phase out of mobility under Key Action 2 to ensure better coherence and simplification. Maximise the relevance of sport actions.

This measure would also extend mobility opportunities in the field of sport for transnational/international training courses, contact-making events, study visits, job shadowing, observation periods, etc. The target group would be staff of sport organisations namely coaches, managers, instructors, dual careers providers, etc. Sport staff members have a key role in sport and by leading and guiding participants have an impact on participants' knowledge, skills, health, wellbeing and attitudes. They have a unique position in advancing social inclusion and gender equality, teaching respect for EU common values, diversity and promoting physical activity in all social groups. With a view to refocussing the actions in the field of sport, activities that promote non-formal learning through sport or outdoor activities which are currently financed under the Erasmus youth strand, in the future would be supported, where relevant, under the Erasmus sport actions. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) C) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium* Impact on EU budget Medium * Implemented under Key Action 1 Support digital opportunities and increased virtual cooperation. Increased blended mobility and virtual exchanges: making full use of digital innovation to increase the number of opportunities for virtual learning (i.e. virtual exchanges or distance courses) or blended mobility (i.e. activities combining physical and virtual mobility) with the aim to improve learning outcomes of participating individuals, as well as to reach out, in particular, to disadvantaged and non-mobile participants offering them access to the programme in cases where physical mobility is not an option. In addition, the proposed actions will contribute to addressing advanced digital skills development. Increased virtual cooperation: the new programme would also aim to provide a regular framework for increased virtual cooperation activities, namely through a more systematic use of the e-platforms such as eTwinning, the School Education Gateway, the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) and the European Youth Portal. The platforms offer virtual collaboration spaces, communities of practice and on-line services for teachers, trainers, policy makers and other practitioners across Europe and beyond. Continued and enhanced support is proposed for those existing on-line tools that have proven their effectiveness and added value. The on-line tools have a high cost-effectiveness ratio as their running costs are relatively limited whereas their capacity to reach to a significant number of people is very high. Impact: In addition to widening the access to the opportunities provided by the programme, the initiative is expected to have positive effects on the development of digital skills and enhance the use of digital resources. The initiative would foster digital literacy by increasing the use of innovative learning and teaching pedagogies, enabling a sufficient master of all dimensions of digital competence - including media literacy and critical thinking - needed to use technology in a confident and secure way. The initiative would enable learners, teachers and researchers to re-train and to acquire cutting edge professional knowledge and use new technologies, aiming to facilitate innovative and open-minded process of learning and teaching. EU added value: Support at European level for the development of digital skills and competence and the use of digital technologies and services in providing forward looking, inclusive and quality education is essential. Digital technologies would extend the field of opportunities for school pupils' mobility, contribute to integration of people with fewer opportunities in education and training, youth and sport activities; reaching out to non-mobile students; and increase intercultural awareness and tolerance. Furthermore, advanced digital skills would enable the growth of digital economy in Europe. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) D) Impact on Erasmus structure Low* Impact on EU budget Low Small-scale partnerships. The future Erasmus would implement an action that is specifically designed to widen the access of the programme to small-scale actors, grass-root organisations and newcomers that are typically hard to reach. The administrative criteria and requirements would be lowered, compared to traditional cooperation projects thus reducing the entry barriers to the programme for organisations with lower organisational capacity. This action would also support flexible formats – both with transnational and national character but with a European dimension – allowing organisations to have more means to reach out to people with fewer opportunities. Impact: In addition to widening the access to the programme, the initiative is expected to raise its inclusive dimension. EU added value: This action would be a first-time experience for many organisations and participants to access EU funds and gain knowledge on planning, project-life-cycle management, use of seed-funds to develop their own ideas. At grant request level, applicants would have to justify the EU added value of their initiatives. For example, this EU added value could consist in the transnational character of the proposed activities, on a specific European thematic or policy priority which the project would contribute to implement. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) B) C) D) F) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium* Impact on EU budget Medium/low *Implemented as a new action with small-size grants under Key Action 2. 3) Promoting awareness and learning on EU matters

Maximise the relevance of Jean Monnet Actions The proposal to maintain a certain number of existing Jean Monnet actions for the programming period post 2020 is anchored in their proven added value. In line with the mid-term findings, their relevance will be further enhanced by the proposed specific objective under the new programme i.e. Foster knowledge and awareness about the European Union, in line with the stakeholders' and the Council and the European Parliament calls for enhanced support for learning and teaching about EU matters. There is a need to raise the knowledge and awareness of the next generations of Europeans much earlier in life. Building on the opportunities offered to other education and training institutions under the current three Erasmus Key Actions, the future programme would develop a strategic framework to promote teaching, learning and debating on EU subjects in other sectors of education and training, thus strengthening knowledge about the EU and promoting European awareness. The proposed action would only target the so-called 'multipliers' such as teachers, trainers or other educational staff. Outreach towards new target groups other than academia would also ensure a more democratic and inclusive grasp for the programme. In addition, the cooperation with Jean Monnet designated institutions could be reinforced in strategic areas such as inclusive education and promotion of EU awareness. The possibility of Jean Monnet institutions providing scholarships to students with fewer opportunities, through the financial support of the programme, should be explored. Moreover, the Transnational School of Governance, hosted by the European Institute of Florence, could become an international reference and a hub in the research, teaching and high level training in transnational governance, understood in a broad and multidisciplinary sense. The School, in cooperation with a broad European network of top-ranked institutions, would work with international teams of academics and researchers offering masters, executive trainings and fellowship programmes as well as other opportunities to develop knowledge and competences in transnational governance. Impact: reinforced strategic cooperation with institutions pursuing an EU interest; enhanced role of education and training institutions to act as a vehicle to transmit knowledge about European matters and sense of belonging to the EU; support the learning of languages; strengthened cooperation among education and training institutions, as well as between the latter and specialised civil society organisations; reinforced citizenship dimension in learning and teaching and awareness-raising about EU matters. EU added value: In the case of in-country activities (e.g. the Jean Monnet-type activities targeting education and training institutions), the EU added value would be brought by the fact that the treated subjects are EU-related. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: A) C) Impact on Erasmus structure Medium* Impact on EU budget Medium * Introducing new Jean Monnet activity for schools and other education and training institutions. Maximising impact of operating grants for Jean Monnet institutions. Erasmus alumni network. Further develop (to cover all sectors) the network of former Erasmus participants who will act as ambassadors and raise awareness about the benefits of the programme. Erasmus alumni are the best advocates for the programme - the conviction with which they can speak about the programme and their experience offer a remarkable awareness raising tool. The benefits of the network go beyond the awareness raising – the alumni could contribute to the inclusiveness objectives and social dimension of the programme by coaching and offering peer learning to young people with fewer opportunities (e.g. conferences, workshops in universities, schools and VET centres about why going abroad helped their career/ personal development). Peer examples are one of the most influential methods to diversify participation in programmes or activities. Impact: engage with local communities and further diffused key messages on the EU and the E+ programme at local level (e.g. schools, associations, VET institutions, youth organisations). Expanded alumni network contributes to promoting a more diverse and inclusive programme and therefore could contribute to raise its attractiveness for other target groups. It would also foster learning about the EU through voluntary engagement of alumni in cooperation activities with local schools. EU added value: In the case of in-country activities the EU added value would be brought by the fact that the treated subjects are EU-related and Erasmus-related. Relevance with main challenges and priorities: B) C) Impact on Erasmus structure Low* Impact on EU budget Low *Introducing a partially new activity under Key Action 3 4) Ambitious international dimension Boost the international dimension of Erasmus. For the future programming period, the programme would aim to be a more balanced instrument for implementing both the EU's external action policy as well as its internal policy objectives. In this regard, the international dimension of the future programme would both aim at: i) increasing opportunities for mobility and