(23 April 2014) – Erasmus+, the EU’s new funding programme for education, training, youth and sport, will be launched in Berlin tomorrow. Erasmus+ will have a total budget of €14.7 billion over the next seven years – 40% more than under previous programmes.
It will provide grants for more than four million people to study, train, gain work experience or volunteer abroad.
Erasmus+ includes and builds on the success of the previous Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci programmes – but has a broader scope. As well as boosting exchanges involving university students, it also offers more opportunities for vocational trainees to gain experience abroad – an objective which Germany strongly advocated.
2 million higher education students will receive grants to study or train abroad, with 450 000 traineeships available; 650 000 vocational students and apprentices will also be able to study, train or work abroad; 800 000 teachers, trainers, education staff and youth workers will receive funding to teach or train abroad.