The European Union faced several challenges in 2020 with the young people being among the most affected, the pandemic restrictions interfering with their education, learning mobility, professional development, social life and travelling. The European Commission is working under a 7 years programmes framework, so now it is expected to launch the programmes applicable for the period 2021-2027, including Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps - the main European Youth Programmes.  


On the 14th of January, the French National Agency organized a Conference to mark the main achievements of the Erasmus+ programme and to announce the new updates. You can see the conference below:

 

Erasmus+ (2021-2027)

During the talks on the new Erasmus+ programme MEPs managed to secure a 2.2 billion EUR top-up, ensured rules to include significantly more people with fewer opportunities, as well as ensured participation of adult learners in the mobility programme. Let's discover together the provisional structure of the key actions:

KEY ACTION 1 – LEARNING MOBILITY

  • Learning mobility - Short- or long-term, group or individual mobility, on diverse thematic areas and study subjects, including forward-looking fields such as digital, climate change, clean energy, artificial intelligence, etc.
  • NEW: Youth Participation activities - Activities aimed at helping young people to engage and learn to participate in civic society, raise awareness about European common values and to foster the dialogue between young people and decision-makers at local, regional, national and European level.
  • DiscoverEU - Informal and non-formal educational activity with a strong learning component and inclusive dimension consisting of a learning experience and traveling throughout Europe to foster a sense of belonging to the Union and to enable participants to discover Europe's cultural and linguistic diversity

KEY ACTION 2 – COOPERATION AMONG ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

  • Partnerships for cooperation - diverse cooperation activities, carried out jointly by organisations and institutions from different countries notably with the aim to exchange and develop new ideas and practices, share and confront practices and methods as well as to develop and reinforce networks partners. This action includes small-scale partnerships specifically designed to foster wider and more inclusive access to the programme through activities with lower grant amounts, shorter duration and simpler administrative requirements
  • Partnerships for excellence - not applicable in the youth field;
  • Partnerships for innovation - partnerships in education and training and in youth developing innovative practices, namely:
    • Alliances - strategic cooperation between key players in education and training, business and research that foster innovation and modernisation of education and training systems.
    • Projects that foster innovation, creativity, e-participation, and social entrepreneurship in education, training, and youth.
  • Not-for-profit sport events - Events organised either in one single country or simultaneously in several countries to raise awareness of the role of sport in diverse areas such as social inclusion, equal opportunities and health-enhancing physical activities.
  • NEW: Online platforms and tools for virtual cooperation in education and training and in youth.

KEY ACTION 3 – SUPPORT TO POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION

  • Preparation and implementation of the Union general and sectorial policy agendas: which consists of a diverse range of activities seeking to inspire and support policies and strategies in education, training, youth and sport, including European policy agendas and strategies in the various education sectors, youth and sports, in, including activities supporting policy cooperation at European level; support for policy experimentation at European level, support for activities aimed at addressing emerging challenges in various thematic areas as well as support for knowledge-gathering including surveys and studies.
  • Support to Union tools and measures that foster the quality, transparency and recognition of competences, skills and qualifications including the following activities aimed at: facilitating the transfer of credits, fostering quality assurance, promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning, as well as skills management and guidance, supporting relevant bodies, networks and tools that facilitate exchanges in the field of transparency and recognition.
  • Policy dialogue in the fields of education and training, youth and sports and cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including a diverse range of activities such as conferences and other types of events, support for cooperation with international organisations as well as the support to the functioning of the Youth Dialogue, EU-wide networks and European organisations which pursue a general EU interest.
  • Measures that contribute to high-quality and inclusive implementation of the Programme, including support for activities and bodies – such as the resource centres, info-networks and training and cooperation activities – that improve programme implementation, build National Agencies’ capacity and enhance the strategic implementation, and harnessing the potential of former Erasmus+ participants and other multipliers as positive role models.
  • Cooperation with other Union instruments and support to other Union policies, including support for activities to foster synergies and complementarities with other Union and national instruments as well as promoting cooperation with the structures implementing such instruments.
  • Dissemination and awareness-raising activities, a set of activities aimed at informing citizens and organisations about the Erasmus+ programme and European Union policies in the fields of education, training, youth and sport.

European Solidarity Corps (2021-2027)

More value and better conditions for volunteers and target groups: MEPs ensured that host organisations will need to prove the quality of the volunteering activities on offer, with a focus on learning, and gaining skills and competences. Similarly, the organisations will need to prove they comply with occupational health and safety regulations. Parliament also succeeded in better protecting target groups. Special clearance will be needed for volunteers working with children and people with disabilities. Programmes will also be required to prove that they contribute to positive societal changes in local communities. Let's discover together the provisional structure of the key actions:

VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering shall include a learning and training component, shall not substitute traineeships or jobs, shall not be equated with employment and shall be based on a written volunteering agreement. This agreement shall set out the rights and obligations, the duration and location of deployment and the task description, and refer to the terms of the insurance coverage of the participants and, where appropriate, to the relevant clearance requirements, in accordance with applicable national law.
Volunteering may take place in a country other than the country of residence of the participant (cross-border) or in the country of residence of the participant (in-country). In-country volunteering shall be open to the participation of all young people, and in particular of young people with fewer opportunities.
NEW: Volunteering in support of humanitarian aid operations is a new measure introduced in the programme, previously known as EU Aid. The upper age limit for volunteers in this strand is 35 years old.

SOLIDARITY PROJECTS

This refers to unpaid solidarity activities for a period of up to 12 months, carried out by groups of at least five European Solidarity Corps participants, with a view to addressing key challenges within their communities while presenting a clear European added value.

NETWORKING ACTIVITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS

  • reinforcing the capacities of the participating organisations to offer high quality, easily accessible projects to an increasing number of European Solidarity Corps participants;
  • attracting newcomers, both young people and participating organisations;
  • providing participants and participating organisations with opportunities to give feedback on solidarity activities and to promote the Programme;
  • contributing to exchange of experiences and strengthening the sense of belonging among the individuals and entities participating in the European Solidarity Corps and thus support its wider positive impact, including through activities such as the exchange of best practices and the creation of networks

QUALITY AND SUPPORT MEASURES

  • appropriate measures to provide clearance requirements in accordance with applicable national law;
  • measures taken before, during or after the activities aimed at ensuring the quality and accessibility of volunteering, including online and offline training, where appropriate adapted to the activities and their context; language support; insurance, including accident and sickness insurance; the further use of Youthpass that identifies and documents the competences acquired by participants during the solidarity activities; capacity building; and administrative support for participating organisations;
  • the development and maintenance of a quality label for entities willing to provide solidarity activities for the European Solidarity Corps;
  • the activities of European Solidarity Corps Resource Centres to support and raise the quality of the implementation of the actions of the European Solidarity Corps and enhance the validation of their outcomes;
  • the establishment, maintenance and updating of an accessible European Solidarity Corps Portal in all official languages of the Union and other relevant online services as well as necessary IT support systems and web-based tools.