52018PC0367

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

Education, training and youth have recently come to the forefront of EU Leaders' attention. In the Rome Declaration, of 25 March 2017, they called for "a Union where citizens have new opportunities for cultural and social development and economic growth" and pledged to work towards "a Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent."

In its resolution of 14 September 2017 'on the future of the Erasmus+ programme', the European Parliament emphasised that the future programme should ultimately be targeted towards all young people and that these higher ambitions for the next programming period should be reflected in an increased budget so as to unlock the full potential of the programme.

In the context of the Social Summit in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission solemnly proclaimed and signed the European Pillar of Social Rights, which sets out, as its first principle, that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.

In its conclusions of 14 December 2017, the European Council highlighted the importance of the social, educational and cultural dimension of Union policies in bringing Europeans together and building our common future, 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 programme.

In its Communication of 14 February 2018 on 'A new, modern Multiannual Financial Framework for a Union that delivers efficiently on its priorities post-2020' 1 , the Commission highlighted that the Union budget will need to deliver on the promises made by Union Leaders, including through the full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and supporting young people and the mobility of European citizens. The Communication also underlined the strong consensus on the need to step up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended Erasmus+, and underlined that the programme equips young people with labour market skills, improves cultural understanding and strengthens the social fabric of the Union.

In its Communication on 'A modern budget for a Union that protects, empowers and defends - the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027' 2 adopted on 2 May 2018, the Commission proposed "a stronger “youth” focus in the next financial framework. This will be achieved by more than doubling the size of Erasmus+ (…), one of the Union’s most visible success stories." The focus of the new Programme "will be on inclusiveness, and to reach more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This will allow more young people to move to another country to learn or work." The Commission thus proposed "a more powerful Erasmus programme which will reach a size of EUR 30 billion over the period". It also proposes to include an amount of EUR 700 million for a new initiative "DiscoverEU" which will offer young people the opportunity to discover other EU countries.

The ambition for the next programme (hereinafter referred to as 'the Programme') goes hand in hand with the Commission's vision to work towards a European Education Area by 2025 as set out in its Communication on 'Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture' of 14 November 2017 3 . The European Education Area stands for "a Europe in which learning would not be hampered by borders. A continent where spending time in another Member State - to study, to learn and 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". The Programme will be a key component supporting the work towards a European Education Area.

The aim is to boost the tried-and-tested Programme in all categories of learners, whether taking part in higher education, general education, vocational education and training and adult education or in non-formal learning, youth and active participation activities. Increasing the accessibility of the Programme to a wider number of individuals means an increased financial investment in the Programme but also, and very importantly, a mix of measures, rules and modalities of participation that allow to do economies of scale, introduce simplification to alleviate the administrative burden, thus removing obstacles to mobility and increasing the relevance, attractiveness and inclusive character of the Programme. The goal is to triple the number of participants while at the same time introducing qualitative measures and incentives that would allow to improve outreach to learners with fewer opportunities.

Europeans need to be equipped with the skills needed in a society that is increasingly mobile, multicultural and digital. There is a clear need to address this challenge and invest in activities that provide individuals with the right set of knowledge, skills and competences, including languages, from a lifelong learning perspective. This will help to make them more resilient and employable as well as foster social cohesion. Europe also needs more investments in digital skills and forward-looking fields, such as climate change, clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysis, arts/design, etc. These are all essential fields for Europe's future sustainable growth and cohesion. The Programme can make a meaningful contribution by stimulating innovation and bridging Europe's knowledge, skills and competences gap. Focused actions will help the Union unleash its potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the digital economy. Supporting culture and creativity in education will contribute to increased resilience of European society.

To increase the qualitative impact of the current programme, the future Programme should reach out more and better to people of different ages and from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds. It should reach out more to those with fewer opportunities, including people with disabilities and migrants as well as Union citizens living in remote areas. For school pupils, learning mobility experiences have been an exception so far. As regards higher education students, trainees, apprentices, young people in general, the current programme is unable to satisfy the large and growing demand in participating in learning mobility activities. Hence, further efforts are needed to make the Programme more inclusive and further increase its efficiency, building on the excellent results achieved over the past thirty years by Union programmes in this field. This will be done notably by increasing and facilitating mobility activities for school pupils, vocational learners, apprentices and youth. For all types of mobility activities, the level of grant support should be optimised, including by ensuring higher grants for certain categories of students and learners, including in higher education mobility. Mobility opportunities for youth participating in non-formal learning activities will be extended to reach more young people. Measures will be taken to encourage young people to engage and learn to participate in civic society, raising awareness about Union common values, bringing together young people and decision makers at local, national and European level, as well as contributing to the European integration process.

The Programme should also reach out to a larger target group both within and beyond the Union by a greater use of information, communication and technology tools, blended mobility (a combination of physical and virtual mobility) and virtual cooperation. To make the Programme more inclusive and in particular to address the needs of certain target groups, such as adult learners, more flexible learning mobility formats, such as short term, group or virtual mobility, will be promoted. Best practices on inclusion in the youth field could be expanded to other fields. A specific action – small scale partnerships - would be designed to make the Programme accessible to organisations with little or no experience or with smaller operational capacity, in particular for grassroots organisations and those organisations that work with people with fewer opportunities.

The Programme will address the Europe-wide trends of limited participation in democratic life and the low levels of knowledge and awareness about European matters that have an impact on the lives of all European citizens. Many people are reluctant, or face difficulties, in actively engaging and participating in their communities or in the Union's political and social life. Moreover, although 70% of Europeans feel they are citizens of the Union today, with the percentage even higher among the younger generations, there is a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of what the European Union is, how it works and what added value it has for its citizens 4 . Strengthening European identity and the participation of young people in democratic processes is of paramount importance for the Union's future. The Programme can contribute to raising awareness and knowledge of the European Union among more people than it has done so far. Organisations and institutions active in the fields of education, training, youth and sport have a key role to play in the development of civic education and in building knowledge about Union matters at large. When looking at young Europeans' understanding of the European Union, they have little knowledge beyond basic facts 5 . Almost nine in ten young people in the Union believe that there should be stronger school education about rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the Union 6 . At the same time, the coverage of teaching about the European Union in national curricula is very fragmented and the active participation dimension is mostly missing 7 . There is also a general need to empower people to become more active in society, willing and capable to participate fully in society and in the democratic life of Europe.

Supporting and facilitating the transnational and international cooperation between organisations in the fields of education, training, youth and sport is instrumental to achieving the goals and address the challenges described above. Cooperation between organisations and institutions is a catalyst for innovative ways to support learners in their personal, educational and professional development. It brings concrete positive effects for individuals, for example by empowering people with more key competences, reducing early school leaving, recognising competences acquired through volunteering and non-formal learning, increasing higher education attainment or implementing the Bologna reforms. It facilitates the circulation of ideas and the transmission of best practices and expertise, thus contributing to a high quality education. However, the intensity and capacity of cooperation activities spawned by the current Erasmus+ programme remain insufficient, especially among small and grass-roots organisations. The degree of cooperation varies across countries and regions, and across sectors. There is room for improvement regarding the participation of schools, adult learning establishments and youth associations. This situation hampers institutional reforms and the modernisation of education, training and youth systems at national and European level.

The international dimension of the Programme is a fundamental and cross-cutting element which is relevant for mobility, cooperation as well as for policy dialogue activities. There is, in particular, a need to intensify international mobility and cooperation with third countries - in particular enlargement, neighbourhood, industrialised and emerging countries - in order to support institutions and organisations in Europe in facing the challenges of globalisation. At the same time, it is key to ensure synergies with the Union's external instruments to pursue the goals of its external actions to contribute to human and institutional development in third countries, including in developing countries, and to engage with their young people, as an essential element to building more resilient societies and enhancing trust between cultures.

The Programme will have to tackle cross-cutting issues which concern all Union programmes, such as simplifying access to the Programme to the widest possible range of target groups (e.g., simpler rules and administrative procedures, and optimised online tools) while ensuring a competitive and transparent selection of projects, a correct grant-management cycle with minimised financial risks for the Union. In addition, the implementation modalities of the international strand should be made simpler, in order to increase accessibility to the action.

This proposal provides for a date of application as of 1 January 2021 and is presented for a Union of twenty seven Member States, in line with the notification by the United Kingdom of its intention to withdraw from the European Union and Euratom based on Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union received by the European Council on 29 March 2017.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions

The Programme is one of the funding instruments under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework aiming at investing in people, social cohesion and values. It is a key instrument at Union level which funds activities at European level in support of learning mobility, cooperation and innovative policy developments in the fields of education, training youth and sport.

The policies of the Union in the field of education, training, youth and sport consist of working towards a European Education Area, while promoting the overall strategic framework for European cooperation in the field of education and training, and its underlying sectoral agendas on school, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education, advancing youth policy cooperation under the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and developing the European dimension in sport, in particular grassroots sport. The Programme is a key instrument supporting the implementation of these Union policies, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, jobs and social cohesion and strengthening European identity, as outlined in the Programme objectives.

In particular, the Programme will support (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 renewed EU agenda for adult learning; (e) the renewed EU youth strategy and (f) the EU work plan for sport. These policies will continue to rely on the support from the integrated lifelong learning approach of the Programme.

In addition, the Programme will contribute to the implementation of the New Skills Agenda for Europe with a shared commitment to the strategic importance of skills for sustaining jobs, growth and competitiveness. It also supports Member States in reaching the goals set out in the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education from 17 March 2015.

The Programme will also contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, in particular to the Sustainable Development Goal number 4 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

•Consistency with other Union policies and programmes

The Programme will be consistent with and complementary to other Union instruments, in particular the external cooperation instruments 8 , the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) 9 , the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF). The Union 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 Union. Actions in the area of education, training and youth policies are also crucial to address migration challenges and prevent risk of radicalisation and extremism. In this respect, the Programme will seek synergies with the Asylum Migration Fund as well as with the Internal Security Fund 10 . There are also important potential complementarities between the objectives and interventions of the Programme and the future Rights and Values programme. The latter aims at promoting and increasing awareness of citizens about our common history, and at enhancing democratic participation of citizens at Union level.

The Commission proposal for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework set a more ambitious goal for climate mainstreaming across all EU programmes, with an overall target of 25% of EU expenditure contributing to climate objectives. The contribution of this programme to the achievement of this overall target will be tracked through an EU climate marker system at an appropriate level of disaggregation, including the use of more precise methodologies where these are available. The Commission will continue to present the information annually in terms of commitment appropriations in the context of the annual draft budget. To support the full utilisation of the potential of the programme to contribute to climate objectives, the Commission will seek to identify relevant actions throughout the programme preparation, implementation, review and evaluation processes.

The Programme will be consistent with and constitute an important complement to the future Creative Europe programme 11 . Cooperation between institutions and organisations active in education, training and youth, supported by Erasmus, will help equip individuals with the knowledge, skills and competences needed to face social and economic challenges as well as fulfil their potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, in particular within the digital economy. Activities linked to reinforcing all aspects of creativity in education and enhancing individual key competencies, will constitute a major link between the two programmes in line with the New Agenda for Culture 12 .

In the field of youth, the Programme will also be consistent with, and complement the European Solidarity Corps by offering different types of activities. The European Solidarity Corps aims at enhancing the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity activities, while the proposed Erasmus Programme will offer other types of activities, such as transnational learning mobility, youth participation activities, measures to enhance cooperation among organisations and activities aiming at supporting policy development. Both programmes have common governance and delivery mechanisms.

In the field of research and innovation, the Programme will ensure synergies with Horizon Europe. Notably, the latter will, where appropriate, complement the Programme's support for the European Universities initiative, in particular its research dimension as part of developing new joint and integrated long term and sustainable strategies on education, research and innovation.

In the field of digital skills, the Digital Europe Programme will complement the wide approach of Erasmus+ to skills by supporting the development and acquisition of advanced digital skills needed for the deployment of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence or high-performance computing, in cooperation with relevant industries.

In line with Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Programme will take into account the specific situation of the outermost regions of the Union and seek to increase their participation in all actions of the Programme, including those with third countries.

The future Programme will aim at acting as a "vehicle" to support valuable learning mobility formats in other policy areas of the Union. A new action will be introduced, under key action 3, to support mobility of organisations or individuals that are targeted specifically in other policy areas (e.g. public governance sector, agriculture and rural development, enterprise, law enforcement).

2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

•Legal basis

Union action in the field of education, training, youth and sport is enshrined in Articles 165 and 166 TFEU which give the Union a supporting competence with the aim to contribute to the development of quality education, the implementation of a vocational training policy and of a youth policy and the promotion of European sporting issues.

•Subsidiarity

While Member States remain responsible for the content and organisation of their policies in the fields concerned, this Programme aims to boost transnational and international mobility and cooperation projects, and to support policy developments with a European dimension. The access to the Programme will be made easier for small actors. In general, it will support transnational activities but also, in exceptional cases, national activities with a strong European dimension, such as activities on a specific European theme or policy priority. This will allow organisations with lower organisational capacity and participants with little or no experience in transnational cooperation, such as grassroots organisations and newcomers, to have a first time experience in accessing Union funds and gaining knowledge in view of future transnational cooperation activities.

The objectives of this initiative cannot be adequately and sufficiently achieved by the Member States by reason of the transnational character, high volume and wide geographical scope of the learning mobility and cooperation activities funded, their effects on access to learning mobility and more generally on Union integration, as well as its reinforced international dimension. As demonstrated by the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, single initiatives of education institutions or Member States, though deemed efficient and beneficial at national level, have insufficient scale and volume, and do not reach a European-wide effect. In terms of scope, the cumulative individual country and cross sectoral coverage remains limited compared to the current Erasmus+ programme.

•Proportionality

This proposal will cover all education and training sectors - schools, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education - youth and sport in a focused and streamlined way. It will reinforce the tried-and-tested actions the impact of which has been evidenced by the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation. To maximise its impact, the volume of learning mobility and cooperation activities will be increased in sectors showing the highest performance, to respond to the high unmet demand and address the challenges described under section 1. Existing actions will be streamlined and refocused (such as adult learning, sport and Jean Monnet) taking into account the results of the mid-term evaluation of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme 13 and stakeholder consultations. The use of new and flexible formats will be promoted to broaden the reach of the Programme (such as virtual cooperation, short term and group mobility). A limited number of new actions will be introduced to address new challenges and political priorities (such as the European Universities and Jean Monnet in other fields of education and training). These measures are considered to be the most suitable for making the Programme more inclusive and more effective.

The improvements proposed will be integrated in the existing programme architecture and use the existing delivery mechanisms to ensure maximum continuity and stability with the predecessor programme. Hence this initiative does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objectives pursued.

•Choice of the instrument

The proposed instrument is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

•Retrospective evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation

The above-mentioned mid-term evaluation of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme, which assessed the progress in the implementation of the Programme in the period 2014-2016 and the long-term impact of its predecessor programmes, showed that the current Erasmus+ delivers a unique package of outcomes in the field of education, training, youth and sport and is highly valued by stakeholders and the public. It highlighted the strong European added value of Erasmus+ and its predecessor programmes. The evaluation also found that all the predecessor programmes evaluated were highly effective whereas Erasmus+ is more coherent, relevant and only, in part, more efficient than its predecessors. Moreover, it highlighted the positive effects of the integrated nature of the Programme covering learning in all its contexts and at all stages of life (lifelong learning logic). The implementation modes were also seen as overall clear and fit for purpose.

The evaluation indicated some areas for improvement, in particular:

–in terms of relevance, the evaluation pointed to the need to better reach out to individuals with fewer opportunities and to facilitate the participation of smaller organisations to make the programme more inclusive; to reinforce measures to foster the understanding of European integration and sense of belonging to Europe, in particular amongst the youngest generations;

–in terms of effectiveness, the volume of activities in sectors showing the highest performance, but which have, until now, received relatively less funding, should be reinforced such as in the school, vocational education and training and youth sectors, which will also contribute to reinforcing the inclusion dimension of the Programme;

–in terms of efficiency, the procedures of application and reporting could be further simplified to reduce the administrative burden on beneficiaries and the online procedures be further optimised.

This proposal takes largely into account the findings and recommendations for improvements made by the external evaluator with a view to a successor programme.

The key findings of the mid-term evaluation are further described in the Impact Assessment (see section 1.3.1) and a detailed account of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation can be found in the staff working document which accompanied the mid-term evaluation report 14 .

•Stakeholder consultations

Large-scale public and stakeholder consultations took place from November 2016 and throughout much of 2017 within the context of the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation in all programme countries 15 . This was done through a mix of consultation activities: semi-structured interviews, online surveys among the beneficiaries of the programme, case studies and an open public consultation launched on 28 February 2017 for three months with a view to gather the opinions of the general public and of all interested groups. Data and views were collected from the implementing bodies of the Programme as well as from non-beneficiaries and bodies in charge of the implementation of other comparable programmes. Ad hoc stakeholder consultations were also undertaken on the Jean Monnet activities and on the Student Loan Guarantee Facility. All in all, over a million responses were received from all interested parties.

The programme countries submitted national reports on the implementation and impact in their respective territories of the actions of Erasmus+ they had to manage.

The data collected during these consultations showed unanimous support from Member States, learning institutions and participants for further strengthening of the programme while maintaining stability and continuity of the programme in terms of basic architecture and delivery mechanisms. Main areas of future improvement identified during consultations concerned the need to further simplify the programme rules and reduce the administrative burden, notably on decentralised international higher education actions and to make the programme more inclusive. It was also suggested to review the share out between the programme sectors in terms of funding allocated and the subsequent volume of activities across the sectors.

Stakeholders also underlined that the future programme should remain integrated and underpinned by the lifelong learning concept and called for further simplifying procedures and processes – also through the optimisation of online tools as well as increasing budget flexibility. This is particularly an issue as regards the international actions of the programme in the field of higher education which are managed by the national agencies in a separate way for each global region in a too rigid manner. They also called for reinforcing the synergies with European Structural Investment Funds.

A separate open public consultation 16 was carried out from 9 January 2018 to 9 March 2018 in the context of the preparation of the next generation of financial programmes for the period after 2020, inter alia to seek inputs on the design of the future programme.

This consultation confirmed that the current Erasmus+ programme is perceived as one of the Union’s most successful and highly relevant programmes. The stakeholders strongly underlined the European added value of Erasmus+ as compared to similar national programmes. The programme's integrated architecture and management modes were considered appropriate and fit for purpose.

In terms of main challenges of the future programme, this consultation confirmed the findings of earlier consultation activities (need to effectively reach out to most disadvantaged target groups and to facilitate the participation of grassroots organisations and newcomers; insufficient level of funding perceived as a barrier for the programme to reach its full potential, need for further simplification in the application and reporting processes). Stakeholders also highlighted the limited added value of the Student Loan Guarantee Facility.

With regard to the objectives of the future programme, the stakeholders emphasised the need to refocus priorities towards more social inclusion and fairness, modernisation of education and training, as well as more emphasis on European identity, active citizenship and participation in the democratic life. Stakeholders' key messages referred to 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 improvement of the dissemination and effective exploitation of project results.

The stakeholder consultations are detailed in the above-mentioned mid-term evaluation and in the Impact Assessment (see its Annex II).

•External expertise

The Commission relied on the expertise of an external contractor and other reviewed studies in the context of its above-mentioned mid-term evaluation of the programme.

In its Report 17 , the contractor summarised the findings of its evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme in the period 2014–2016 and the predecessor programmes in the period 2007–2013. The analysis covered all sectors of the programme: education, training, youth and sport as well as Jean Monnet and the Student Loan Guarantee Facility. It also covered all types of actions funded. The evaluation furthermore offered a focused evaluation on an action currently piloted under the programme, eTwinning Plus.

The evaluation was structured around five evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and Union added value).

In addition, the report was accompanied by several self-standing reports: an evaluation of the Student Loan Guarantee Facility and of Jean Monnet, a synopsis report of the results of the three-months open public consultation launched in February 2017 and a synthesis of the Reports by the National Authorities.

In its report the contractor identified a number of areas for improvement and made related recommendations. As already mentioned above, the Commission based itself on these findings and recommendations in its report on the mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme.

•Impact Assessment

The Impact Assessment focused on two options:

(1)continuing the programme in its current form with the current budget corrected to take account of the United Kingdom leaving the Union (EU-27) which represents the minimum critical mass investment in the field of education, training, youth and sport at Union level to continue to have a positive outcome. Some efficiency gains could be introduced by streamlining and refocusing some existing actions;

(2)a strengthened, more inclusive and extended programme with a number of improvements that would allow the programme to better address the challenges identified in the context of the mid-term evaluation and subsequent consultations, also taking into account the latest policy developments.

The preferred option identified in the Impact Assessment is a strengthened programme, in line with the abovementioned Communication of 2 May 2018 on the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027.

The Impact Assessment developed a number of sub-options, focusing on the improvements and novelties compared to the current programme, while keeping the current integrated programme architecture and delivery mechanisms. It provided an indicative priority ranking of a number of improvements and novelties that could be implemented in case of a moderate budgetary increase for the programme under the next multiannual financial framework, while others could be implemented only on the condition of a higher increase of the overall budget.

The scope and volume of the funded actions could:

–remain stable with a similar envelope, with improvements in terms of efficiency and simplification, by streamlining and refocusing certain actions, allowing the programme to work as effectively as it has done during the 2014-2020 programming period; or

–should the programme's envelope be increased, the scope and volume of the various existing actions could be increased and the identified new activities (including the cost intensive ones) could be implemented to their full extent, broadening the scope and increasing the European added value of the Programme.

This second proposal was considered to be the best policy choice for the following reasons:

–In terms of the programme’s objectives, the preferred policy option responds best to the need of having an instrument that delivers efficiently on the Union's post 2020 objectives, in particular on the need to step up mobility and exchanges in all categories of learners, and the need to step up efforts to reach out to learners with fewer opportunities and to increase opportunities to cooperate including for smaller organisations, thus bringing Europeans together and strengthening European identity and commitment to European common values in times of rising populism;

–In terms of priorities, the preferred policy option has been designed to better align the actions with the priorities set at Union level and takes account of the feedback received from stakeholders and the general public in the context of the midterm evaluation and the Erasmus 30-year campaign. It entails a rationalisation and refocusing of certain existing actions. For example, some actions will be specifically targeted towards activities that foster the development of competences in forward-looking fields; others will be aimed at fostering innovation in education, training, youth and sport; Jean Monnet activities will be partially refocused to target for example pupils in schools, the actions in the adult learning sector will be targeted to a more specifically defined target group (the lower skilled). At the same time, the proposal reinforces the inclusive dimension of the programme by adapting certain existing actions and introducing new measures (such as short term and group mobility and virtual cooperation). In addition, the preferred policy option establishes a certain level of flexibility in order to take into account of emerging priorities and needs emerging in the course of the programming period.

–In terms of delivery mechanism, the preferred policy option, which aims at maintaining the existing – and unique – combination of management modes of the current Erasmus+ programme, based on the positive experience of the implementation of the programme, as evaluated at mid-term, will allow focusing on delivery and performance while minimising administrative burden. The national agencies established in each of the programme countries participating in the current Erasmus+ (indirect management) will continue to be in charge of managing the main part of the funds, i.e. most of those allocated to mobility and cooperation actions. National agencies are equipped to manage a large volume of actions of relatively low amounts that require proximity to the beneficiaries, adapt to the diversity of national education, training and youth systems, and align with national priorities. Direct management would be maintained for a number of specific actions that 1) do not have a critical mass of budget to be decentralised, 2) require a European or world-wide intervention, 3) are still embryonic at conceptual level and need a "pilot" phase before being decentralised, or 4) require competition based on excellence. In addition, the preferred policy option will allow a certain level of flexibility in order to take into account emerging priorities and needs in the course of the multi-annual programming period.

This proposal is fully consistent with the preferred policy option.

On 13 April 2018 the Regulatory Scrutiny Board issued a positive opinion with reservations 18 on the understanding that the draft impact assessment report should be adjusted in order to integrate the Board recommendations on some key aspects. As a result, the report was revised with a view to:

(1)outline more clearly the rationale, efficiency gains and added value for the continuation and extension of some of the proposed actions, notably for the Jean Monnet, sport and adult learning actions;

(2)further elaborate the analysis of the effectiveness and relevance of new initiatives and clarify the proposed actions regarding school pupils' mobility; Reinforce the prioritisation of the proposed new or extended actions and better highlight potential risks and ways to mitigate them;

(3)clarify the concept of inclusion and its implications for the Erasmus programme, and further elaborate on the potential synergies with other future Union programmes and instruments.

The opinion and the adjustments brought to the Impact Assessment report are further detailed in its first Annex.

•Simplification

In line with one of the cross-cutting objectives of the multiannual financial framework for the period after 2020, this proposal aims to reduce the burden for beneficiaries and implementing bodies. Rules and procedures such as grants selections, reporting, monitoring and control are as far as possible aligned on the rules and procedures common to all funding instruments, and the common horizontal rules of the Financial Regulation 19 are used as much as possible. Simplification and rationalisation of common indicators and criteria for selection will also help reducing the burden directly on beneficiaries and national agencies. Moreover, the administrative burden for beneficiaries will be decreased by making full use of improved online tools.

Improvements and novelties will be integrated in the existing programme architecture and will use the existing delivery mechanisms. To ensure, as far as possible, continuity with the programming period 2014-2020, a light and proportionate procedure will be established for the re-designation of national agencies that have been in charge of implementing the programme at national level and the independent audit bodies that have been responsible for auditing in the current programme period. The benefits of such a light procedure for the designation of the implementing structures will free up resources at national level in the preparations of the next generation Programme.

This proposal also aims to further simplify and streamline the architecture of the Programme. In line with the recommendations of the mid-term evaluation, it will rationalise the structure of some of the actions to better target them and avoid overlaps, for example by differentiating partnerships focusing on innovation and partnerships whose purpose is mutual learning, cooperation and exchanges of best practices. Furthermore, it will bring most of the mobility actions under the same key action, shifting the mobility of school pupils from key action 2 (cooperation among organisations) to key action 1 (learning mobility for individuals). The actions of the Programme will now be organised according to the logic of 'key actions', including in the field of sport, thereby facilitating cross-sectoral dynamics.

Access to the next Programme for smaller organisations, such as grassroots organisations, newcomers and people who are hard to reach will be made easier. Potential candidates may be discouraged by the application procedures as well as by the administrative burden that follows from managing Union projects. Even though applicants appreciate the use of simplified cost options and grants (lump sums, unit costs and flat rates), the bureaucracy is a major problem for some of them, in particular smaller-sized organisations, for example in the school, adult education and youth sectors. This proposal will implement an action (small-scale partnerships) that is specifically designed for such small-scale actors, with a lower level of administrative criteria and requirements compared to other traditional cooperation projects, with a view to reducing the entry barriers to the programme for organisations with a lower organisational capacity and newcomers. This action will also support flexible formats (generally transnational and, in exceptional cases, national activities with a strong European dimension) allowing organisations to reach out to people with fewer opportunities.

Integrating other specific Union mobility schemes with a strong learning dimension from other policy areas into the Programme will contribute to enhanced implementation coherence, as well as further simplification and efficiency gains. It will also make the access of beneficiaries and stakeholders to learning mobility easier by getting closer to the idea of providing a one-stop shop for Union mobility schemes through the Erasmus Programme.

Moreover, as evidenced by the mid-term evaluation, there is a need to significantly simplify the way the international actions of the programme are implemented. Currently, some parts of these actions are funded from four different Union external cooperation instruments 20 and from the European Development Fund. These actions will be simplified by reducing the number of external cooperation instruments and by rationalising the procedures for programming the implementation of Erasmus actions under these instruments.

•Fundamental rights

This proposal is fully consistent with the Charter of fundamental rights of the Union. In particular, this proposal takes full account of Article 14 (right to education), 15 (freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work), 21 (non-discrimination), 23 (equality between women and men), 24 (rights of the child), 26 (integration of persons with disabilities), 31 (fair and just working conditions) and 32 (prohibition of child labour and protection of young people at work) of the Charter.

4.BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

In line with the Commission proposal for the multi-annual financial framework for the period 2021-2027, the financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the same period will be set at 30 000 000 000 EUR.

Further details on the budgetary implications and the human and administrative resources required are provided in the Legislative and Financial Statement attached to this proposal.

5.OTHER ELEMENTS

•Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements

The performance of the Programme will be monitored on a continuous basis, for the purposes of management, reporting and accountability, communication, visibility and exploitation of results. Key performance indicators will be set in an Annex to the proposed Regulation but the Commission plans to put in place further continuous monitoring activities, as further explained in section 5.1 of the Impact Assessment. These monitoring activities will aim to assess the progress towards achieving the output and results targets of the Programme, and to track the performance indicators in the short, medium and longer-term based on predefined targets and benchmarks.

In addition, the more complex and ambitious and long-term impact indicators will be measured a limited number of times over the programming cycle, either in the context of the formal mid-term and ex-post evaluation exercises of the future programme, or through dedicated independent studies and surveys to be undertaken by external experts. Some surveys could be used to measure the causal impact of certain actions of the Programme.

Moreover, the monitoring and evaluation arrangements, taking into account the results of the mid-term evaluation report of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme, will avoid putting any unnecessary burden on the beneficiaries of the Programme and the implementation bodies in terms of number and frequency of surveys, samples of respondents, amount and level of complexity of data collected, etc.

Member States will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation process through their national reports on the implementation of the programme in their territory.

Evaluations will be carried out in line with paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 21 , where the three institutions agreed that evaluations of existing legislation and policy should provide the basis for impact assessments of options for further action. The evaluations will assess the programme's effects on the ground based on the programme indicators/targets and a detailed analysis of the degree to which the programme can be deemed relevant, effective, efficient, provides enough EU added value and is coherent with other EU policies. They will include lessons learnt to identify any lacks/problems or any potential to further improve the actions or their results and to help maximise their exploitation/impact.

•Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal

Chapter I – General provisions of the proposed Regulation sets out its subject-matter, the definitions of certain terms for the purposes of this Regulation, as well as the general and specific objectives of the Programme. The Programme aims 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. It is a key instrument to support the implementation of the Union's policies in the field of education, training, youth and sport.

Specific objectives are defined for each of the three policy areas of the Programme (education and training, youth and sport).

Each of the three policy areas are structured around three key actions, 'learning mobility' (key action 1), 'cooperation among organisations and institutions' (key action 2) and 'support to policy development and cooperation' (key action 3).

Chapters II – IV identify the actions which shall be supported by the Programme in each policy area and under each key action, respectively in the fields of education and training (Chapter II), youth (Chapter III) and sport (Chapter IV).

Chapter V – Financial provisions sets out the budgetary envelope of the Programme for the 2021-2027 period and the envisaged forms of Union funding. The prime reference amount is EUR 30 000 000 000. It also provides that an additional financial contribution shall be allocated under the external instruments. Some minimal amounts or thresholds are set for certain actions to allow the legislator to steer the implementation of the different dimensions of the Programme.

Chapter VI – Participation in the programme specifies which third countries can be associated to the Programme and the conditions under which they can fully take part in it, together with the Member States. These third countries must fulfill all the conditions imposed by this Regulation on the Member States, such as the obligation to set up a national agency. Organisations and individuals from other third countries may nevertheless participate in some of the actions supported by the Programme. This Chapter also specifies some specific rules applicable to direct and indirect management in view of the Financial Regulation, in particular which entities may apply for funding and on the participation of experts in the evaluation committee referred to in Article [150(3)] of the Financial Regulation.

Chapter VII – Programming, monitoring and evaluation sets out the necessary provisions for the conferral of powers to the Commission to adopt work programmes and delegated powers to review and/or complement the performance indicators. It also specifies the requirements in terms of monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the performance of the Programme.

Chapter VIII – Information, communication and dissemination defines the requirements for all the actors concerned in terms of dissemination of information, publicity and follow-up with regard to all actions supported by the Programme.

Chapter IX – Management and audit system establishes the provision for the establishment and functioning of the implementing bodies of the Programme. In management terms, the proposed delivery mechanism is a combination of indirect management and direct management. The combination of management modes builds on the existing structures of the current programme. National agencies will be in charge of managing the large majority of the funds of the Programme.

Chapter X – Control system lays down the necessary supervisory system to ensure that the protection of the financial interests of the Union is duly taken into account when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented.

Chapter XI – Complementarity with other Union policies, programmes and funds provides that the Programme shall be implemented so as to ensure the overall consistency and complementarity of the Programme with other Union policies and instruments and the principle for topping up of funds. Specific rules are foreseen to allow for complementarities between the Programme and the European Structural and Investment funds.

Chapter XII – Transitional and final provisions sets out the necessary provisions for the conferral of delegated powers to the Commission and to ensure the transition between programmes. As regards the Committee required under Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 to assist the Commission in adopting implementing acts, would be the Committee established by Article 36 of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 establishing the Erasmus+ programme. The final provisions set out the date of entry into force of the proposed Regulation which shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States from 1 January 2021.

2018/0191 (COD)

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) No 1288/2013

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 165(4) and 166(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee 22 ,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions 23 ,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1)In a context of rapid and profound changes induced by technological revolution and globalisation, investing in learning mobility, cooperation and innovative policy development in the fields of education, training, youth and sport is key to building inclusive, cohesive and resilient societies and sustaining the competitiveness of the Union, while contributing to strengthening European identity and to a more democratic Union.

(2)In its Communication on Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture of 14 November 2017, the Commission put forward its vision to work towards a European Education Area by 2025, in which learning would not be hampered by borders; a Union, where spending time in another Member State for purposes of studying and learning in any form or setting would become the standard and where, in addition to one's mother tongue, speaking two other languages would become the norm; a Union in which people would have a strong sense of their identity as Europeans, of Europe's cultural heritage and its diversity. In this context, the Commission emphasised the need to boost the tried-and-tested Erasmus+ programme in all categories of learners that it already covers and reaching out to learners with fewer opportunities.

(3)The importance of education, training and youth for the future of the Union is reflected in the Commission's Communication of 14 February 2018 entitled 'A new, modern Multiannual Financial Framework for a European Union that delivers efficiently on its priorities post-2020' 24 , which stresses the need to deliver on the commitments made by the Member States at the Gothenburg Social Summit, including through the full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights 25 and its first principle on education, training and lifelong learning. The Communication stresses the need to step up mobility and exchanges, including through a substantially strengthened, inclusive and extended programme, as had been called for by the European Council in its conclusions of 14 December 2017.

(4)The European Pillar of Social Rights, solemnly proclaimed and signed on 17 November 2017 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, lays down, as its first key principle, that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.

(5)On 16 September 2016 in Bratislava, leaders of twenty-seven Member States stressed their determination to provide better opportunities for youth. In the Rome Declaration signed on 25 March 2017, leaders of twenty-seven 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 Union; a Union which preserves our cultural heritage and promotes cultural diversity.

(6)The mid-term evaluation report of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme confirmed that the creation of a single programme on education, training, youth and sport resulted in significant simplification, rationalisation and synergies in the management of the Programme while further improvements are necessary to further consolidate the efficiency gains of the 2014-2020 Programme. In the consultations for the mid-term evaluation and on the future Programme, Member States and stakeholders made a strong call for continuity in the Programme's scope, architecture and delivery mechanisms, while calling for a number of improvements, such as making the Programme more inclusive. They also expressed their full support for keeping the Programme integrated and underpinned by the lifelong learning paradigm. The European Parliament, in its Resolution of 2 February 2017 on the implementation of Erasmus+, welcomed the integrated structure of the programme and called on the Commission to exploit fully the lifelong learning dimension of the programme by fostering and encouraging cross-sectoral cooperation in the future programme. Member States and stakeholders also highlighted the need to keep a strong international dimension in the Programme and to extend it to other sectors of education and training.

(7)The open public consultation on Union funding in the areas of values and mobility confirmed these key findings and emphasised the need to make the future programme a more inclusive programme and to continue to focus priorities on modernising education and training systems as well as strengthening priorities on fostering European identity, active citizenship and participation in democratic life.

(8)In its Communication on 'A modern budget for a Union that protects, empowers and defends - the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027' 26 adopted on 2 May 2018, the Commission called for a stronger “youth” focus in the next financial framework, notably by more than doubling the size of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ Programme, one of the Union’s most visible success stories. The focus of the new Programme should be on inclusiveness, and to reach more young people with fewer opportunities. This should allow more young people to move to another country to learn or work.

(9)In this context, it is necessary to establish the successor programme for education, training, youth and sport (the 'Programme') of the 2014-2020 Erasmus + programme established by Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council 27 . The integrated nature of the 2014-2020 programme covering learning in all contexts - formal, non-formal and informal, and at all stages of life - should be maintained to boost flexible learning paths allowing individuals to develop those competences that are necessary to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.

(10)The Programme should be equipped to become an even greater contributor to the implementation of the Union's policy objectives and priorities in the field of education, training, youth and sport. 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 Programme should maintain a close relationship with the overall strategic framework for Union policy cooperation in the field of education, training and youth, including the policy agendas for schools, higher education, vocational education and training and adult learning, while reinforcing and developing new synergies with other related Union programmes and policy areas.

(11)The Programme is a key component of building a European Education Area. It should be equipped to contribute to the successor of the strategic framework for cooperation in education and training and the Skills Agenda for Europe 28 with a shared commitment to the strategic importance of skills and competences for sustaining jobs, growth and competitiveness. It should support Member States in reaching the goals of the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education 29 .

(12)The Programme should be coherent with the new European Union youth strategy 30 , the framework for European cooperation in the youth field for 2019-2027, based on the Commission's Communication of 22 May 2018 on 'Engaging, connecting and empowering young people: a new EU Youth Strategy' 31 .

(13)The Programme should take into account the Union work plan for sport which is the cooperation framework at Union level in the field of sport for the years […] 32 . Coherence and complementarity should be ensured between the Union work plan and actions supported under the Programme in the field of sport. There is a need to focus in particular on grassroots sports, taking into account the important role that sports play in promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyle, social inclusion and equality. The Programme should contribute to promote European common values through sport, good governance and integrity in sport, as well as education, training and skills in and through sport.

(14)The Programme should contribute to strengthening the Union's innovation capacity notably by supporting mobility and cooperation activities that foster the development of competences in forward-looking study fields or disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, climate change, the environment, clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysis and arts/design, to help people develop knowledge, skills and competences needed for the future.

(15)Synergies with Horizon Europe should ensure that combined resources from the Programme and the Horizon Europe Programme 33 are used to support activities dedicated to strengthening and modernising European higher education institutions. Horizon Europe will, where appropriate, complement the Programme's support for the European Universities initiative, in particular its research dimension as part of developing new joint and integrated long term and sustainable strategies on education, research and innovation. Synergies with Horizon Europe will help to foster the integration of education and research in higher education institutions.

(16)The Programme should be more inclusive by improving its outreach to those with fewer opportunities, including through more flexible learning mobility formats, and by fostering participation of small organisations, in particular newcomers and community-based grassroots organisations that work directly with disadvantaged learners of all ages. Virtual formats, such as virtual cooperation, blended and virtual mobility, should be promoted to reach more participants, in particular those with fewer opportunities and those for whom moving physically to a country other than their country of residence would be an obstacle.

(17)In its Communication on Strengthening European identity through education and culture, the Commission highlighted the pivotal role of education, culture and sport in promoting active citizenship and common values amongst the youngest generations. Strengthening European identity and fostering the active participation of individuals in the democratic processes is crucial for the future of Europe and our democratic societies. Going abroad to study, learn, train and work or to participate in youth and sport activities contributes to strengthening this European identity in all its diversity and the sense of being part of a cultural community as well as to fostering such active citizenship, among people of all ages. Those taking part in mobility activities should get involved in their local communities as well as engage in their host country local communities to share their experience. Activities linked to reinforcing all aspects of creativity in education, training and youth and enhancing individual key competencies should be supported.

(18)The international dimension of the Programme should be boosted aiming at offering a greater number of opportunities for mobility, cooperation and policy dialogue with third countries not associated to the Programme. Building on the successful implementation of international higher education and youth activities under the predecessor programmes in the fields of education, training and youth, the international mobility activities should be extended to other sectors, such as in vocational education and training.

(19)The basic architecture of the 2014-2020 programme in three chapters - education and training, youth and sport – structured around three key actions has proved successful and should be maintained. Improvements to streamline and rationalise the actions supported by the Programme should be introduced.

(20)The Programme should reinforce existing learning mobility opportunities, notably in those sectors where the Programme could have the biggest efficiency gains, to broaden its reach and meet the high unmet demand. This should be done notably by increasing and facilitating mobility activities for higher education students, school pupils and learners in vocational education and training. Mobility of low-skilled adult learners should be embedded in partnerships for cooperation. Mobility opportunities for youth participating in non-formal learning activities should also be extended to reach more young people. Mobility of staff in education, training, youth and sport should also be reinforced, considering its leverage effect. In line with the vision of a true European Education Area, the Programme should also boost mobility and exchanges and promote student participation in educational and cultural activities by supporting digitalisation of processes, such as the European Student Card. This initiative can be an important step in making mobility for all a reality first by enabling higher education institutions to send and receive more exchange students while still enhancing quality in student mobility and also by facilitating students' access to various services (library, transport, accommodation) before arriving at the institution abroad.

(21)The Programme should encourage youth participation in Europe's democratic life, including by supporting participation projects for young people to engage and learn to participate in civic society, raising awareness about European common values including fundamental rights, bringing together young people and decision makers at local, national and Union level, as well as contributing to the European integration process.

(22)The Programme should offer young people more opportunities to discover Europe through learning experiences abroad. Eighteen year olds, in particular those with fewer opportunities, should be given the chance to have a first-time, short-term individual or group experience travelling throughout Europe in the frame of an informal educational activity aimed at fostering their sense of belonging to the European Union and discovering its cultural diversity. The Programme should identify bodies in charge of reaching out and selecting the participants and support activities to foster the learning dimension of the experience.

(23)The Programme should also enhance the learning of languages, in particular through widened use of online tools, as e-learning offers additional advantages for language learning in terms of access and flexibility.

(24)The Programme should support measures that enhance the cooperation between institutions and organisations active in education, training, youth and sport, recognising their fundamental role in equipping individuals with the knowledge, skills and competences needed in a changing world as well as to adequately fulfil the potential for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, in particular within the digital economy.

(25)In its Conclusions of the 14 of December 2017, the European Council called on Member States, the Council and the Commission to take forward a number of initiatives to elevate European cooperation in education and training to a new level, including by encouraging the emergence by 2024 of 'European Universities', consisting in bottom-up networks of universities across the Union. The Programme should support these European Universities.

(26)The 2010 Bruges Communiqué called for support of vocational excellence for smart and sustainable growth. The 2017 Communication on Strengthening Innovation in Europe's Regions points to linking vocational education and training to innovation systems, as part of smart specialisation strategies at regional level. The Programme should provide the means to respond to these calls and support the development of transnational platforms of Centres of vocational excellence closely integrated in local and regional strategies for growth, innovation and competitiveness. These centres of excellence should act as drivers of quality vocational skills in a context of sectorial challenges, while supporting overall structural changes and socio-economic policies in the Union.

(27)To increase the use of virtual cooperation activities, the Programme should support a more systematic use of the online platforms such as eTwinning, the School Education Gateway, the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe, the European Youth Portal and the online platform for higher education.

(28)The Programme should contribute to facilitating transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications, as well as the transfer of credits or units of learning outcomes, to foster quality assurance and to support validation of non-formal and informal learning, skills management and guidance. In this regard, the Programme should also provide support to contact points and networks at national and Union level that facilitate cross-European exchanges as well as the development of flexible learning pathways between different fields of education, training and youth and across formal and non-formal settings.

(29)The Programme should mobilise the potential of former Erasmus+ participants and support activities in particular of Alumni networks, ambassadors and Europeers, by encouraging them to act as multipliers of the Programme.

(30)As a way to ensure cooperation with other Union instruments and support to other policies of the Union, mobility opportunities should be offered to people in various sectors of activity, such as the public sector, agriculture and enterprise, to have a learning experience abroad allowing them, at any stage of their life, to grow and develop professionally but also personally, in particular by developing an awareness of their European identity and an understanding of European cultural diversity. The Programme should offer an entry point for Union transnational mobility schemes with a strong learning dimension, simplifying the offer of such schemes for beneficiaries and those taking part in these activities. The scaling-up of Erasmus projects should be facilitated; specific measures should be put in place to help promoters of Erasmus projects to apply for grants or develop synergies through the support of the European Structural and Investment Funds and the programmes relating to migration, security, justice and citizenship, health and culture.

(31)It is important to stimulate teaching, learning and research in European integration matters, as well as to promote debates on these matters through the support of Jean Monnet actions in the fields of higher education but also in other fields of education and training. Fostering a sense of European identity and commitment is particularly important at times when the common values on which the Union is founded, and which form part of our European identity, are put to the test, and when citizens show low levels of engagement. The Programme should continue to contribute to the development of excellence in European integration studies.

(32)Reflecting the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union's commitments to implement the Paris Agreement and achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, this Programme will contribute to mainstream climate action in the Union's policies and to the achievement of an overall target of 25% of the Union budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. Relevant actions will be identified during the Programme's preparation and implementation and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review process.

(33)This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for the Programme which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of [reference to be updated as appropriate Point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management 34 ], for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure.

(34)Within a basic envelope for actions to be managed by the national agencies in the field of education and training, a breakdown of minimum allocation per sector (higher education, school education, vocational education and training and adult education) should be defined in order to guarantee a critical mass of appropriations to reach the intended output and results in each of these sectors.

(35)Regulation (EU, Euratom) No [the new FR] (the 'Financial Regulation') 35 applies to this Programme. It lays down rules on the implementation of the Union budget, including the rules on grants, prizes, procurement and indirect implementation.

(36)The types of financing and the methods of implementation under this Regulation should be chosen on the basis of their ability to achieve the specific objectives of the actions and to deliver results, taking into account, in particular, the costs of controls, the administrative burden, and the expected risk of non-compliance. This should include consideration of the use of lump sums, flat rates and unit costs, as well as financing not linked to costs as referred to in Article [125(1)] of the Financial Regulation.

(37)Third countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) may participate in the Programme in the framework of the cooperation established under the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, which provides for the implementation of Union programmes by a decision under that agreement. Third countries may also participate on the basis of other legal instruments. This Regulation should grant the necessary rights for and access to the authorising officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as well as the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences. The full participation of third countries in the Programme should be subject to the conditions laid down in specific agreements covering the participation of the third country concerned to the Programme. Full participation entails, moreover, the obligation to set up a national agency and managing some of the actions of the Programme at decentralised level. Individuals and entities from third countries that are not associated to the Programme should be able to participate in some of the actions of the Programme, as defined in the work programme and the calls for proposals published by the Commission. When implementing the Programme, specific arrangements could be taken into account with regard to individuals and entities from European microstates.

(38)In line with the Commission's communication on 'A stronger and renewed strategic partnership with the Union's outermost regions' 36 , the Programme should take into account the specific situation of these regions. Measures will be taken to increase the outermost regions' participation in all actions. Mobility exchanges and cooperation between people and organisations from these regions and third countries, in particular their neighbours, should be fostered. Such measures will be monitored and evaluated regularly.

(39)Pursuant to [reference to be updated as appropriate according to a new Decision on OCTs Article 94 of the Council Decision 2013/755/EC 37 ], individuals and entities established in overseas countries or territories are eligible for funding subject to the rules and objectives of the Programme and possible arrangements applicable to the Member State to which the relevant overseas country or territory is linked. The constraints imposed by the remoteness of these countries or territories should be taken into account when implementing the Programme, and their participation in the Programme monitored and regularly evaluated.

(40)In compliance with the Financial Regulation, the Commission should adopt work programmes and inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof. The work programme should set out the measures needed for their implementation in line with the general and specific objectives of the Programme, the selection and award criteria for grants, as well as all other elements required. Work programmes and any amendments to them should be adopted by implementing acts in accordance with the examination procedure.

(41)Pursuant to paragraph 22 and 23 of the Inter-institutional agreement for Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 38 , there is a need to evaluate the Programme on the basis of information collected through specific monitoring requirements, while avoiding overregulation and administrative burdens, in particular on Member States. Such requirements should include specific, measurable and realistic indicators which can be measured over time as a basis for evaluating the effects of the Programme on the ground.

(42)Appropriate outreach, publicity and dissemination of the opportunities and results of the actions supported by the Programme should be ensured at European, national and local level. The outreach, publicity and dissemination activities should rely on all the implementing bodies of the Programme, including, when relevant, with the support of other key stakeholders.

(43)In order to ensure greater efficiency in communication to the public at large and stronger synergies between the communication activities undertaken at the initiative of the Commission, the resources allocated to communication under this Regulation should also contribute to covering the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, provided that these are related to the general objective of this Regulation.

(44)In order to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this Regulation, the Programme should make maximum use of delivery mechanisms already in place. The implementation of the Programme should therefore be entrusted to the Commission, and to national agencies. Where feasible, and in order to maximise efficiency, the national agencies should be the same as the one designated for the management of the predecessor programme. The scope of the ex-ante compliance assessment should be limited to the requirements that are new and specific to the Programme, unless justified, such as in case of serious shortcomings or underperformance on the part of the national agency concerned.

(45)In order to ensure sound financial management and legal certainty in each participating country, each national authority should designate an independent audit body. Where feasible, and in order to maximise efficiency, the independent audit body should be the same as the one designated for the actions referred to in the previous programme.

(46)Member States should endeavour to adopt all appropriate measures to remove legal and administrative obstacles to the proper functioning of the Programme. This includes resolving, where possible, and without prejudice to Union law on the entry and residence of third-country nationals issues that create difficulties in obtaining visas and residence permits. In line with Directive (EU) 2016/801 of the European Parliament and of the Council 39 , Member States are encouraged to establish fast-track admission procedures.

(47)The performance reporting system should ensure that data for monitoring programme implementation and evaluation are collected efficiently, effectively and in a timely manner, and at the appropriate level of granularity. Such data should be communicated to the Commission in a way that complies with relevant data protection rules.

(48)In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council 40 .

(49)In order to simplify requirements for beneficiaries, simplified grants in the form of lump-sums, unit-costs and flat-rate funding should be used to the maximum possible extent. The simplified grants to support the mobility actions of the Programme, as defined by the Commission, should take into account the living and subsistence costs of the host country. The Commission and national agencies of the sending countries should have the possibility to adjust these simplified grants on the basis of objective criteria, in particular to ensure access to people with fewer opportunities. In accordance with national law, Member States should also be encouraged to exempt those grants from any taxes and social levies. The same exemption should apply to public or private entities awarding such financial support to the individuals concerned.

(50)In accordance with the Financial Regulation, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council 41 , Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 42 and Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 43 , the financial interests of the Union are to be protected through proportionate measures, including the prevention, detection, correction and investigation of irregularities and fraud, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, the imposition of administrative sanctions. In particular, in accordance with the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) may investigate and prosecute Union fraud and other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the Union, as provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council 44 . In accordance with the Financial Regulation, any person or entity receiving Union funds is to fully cooperate in the protection of the Union’s financial interests and grant the necessary rights and access to the Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the European Court of Auditors, and to ensure that any third parties involved in the implementation of Union funds grant equivalent rights.

(51)It is necessary to ensure the complementarity of the actions carried out within the Programme with activities undertaken by the Member States and with other Union activities, in particular those in the fields of education, culture and the media, youth and solidarity, employment and social inclusion, research and innovation, industry and enterprise, agriculture and rural development with a focus on young farmers, cohesion, regional policy and international cooperation and development.

(52)While the regulatory framework already allowed Member States and regions to establish synergies in the previous programming period between Erasmus+ and other Union instruments, such as the European structural and investment funds, which also support the qualitative development of education, training and youth systems in the Union, this potential has so far been underexploited, thus limiting the systemic effects of projects and impact on policy. Effective communication and cooperation should take place at national level between the national bodies in charge of managing these various instruments to maximise their respective impact. The programme should allow for active cooperation with these instruments.

(53)In order to review or complement the performance indicators of the Programme, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the Annex. It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations are conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council should receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(54)It is appropriate to ensure the correct closure of the predecessor programme, in particular as regards to the continuation of multi-annual arrangements for its management, such as the financing of technical and administrative assistance. As from 1 January 2021, the technical and administrative assistance should ensure, if necessary, the management of actions that have not yet been finalised under the predecessor programme by 31 December 2020.

(55)This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In particular, this Regulation seeks to ensure full respect for the right to equality between men and women and the right to non-discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to promote the application of Articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

(56)Horizontal financial rules adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Article 322 TFEU apply to this Regulation. These rules are laid down in the Financial Regulation and determine in particular the procedure for establishing and implementing the budget through grants, procurement, prizes and indirect implementation, and provide for checks on the responsibility of financial actors. Rules adopted on the basis of Article 322 TFEU also concern the protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States, as the respect for the rule of law is an essential precondition for sound financial management and effective Union funding.

(57)Since the objective of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its transnational character, the high volume and wide geographical scope of the mobility and cooperation activities funded, its effects on access to learning mobility and more generally on Union integration, as well as its reinforced international dimension, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(58)Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 should be repealed with effect from 1 January 2021.

(59)In order to ensure continuity in the funding support provided under the Programme, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2021,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes Erasmus, the programme for Union action in the field of education, training, youth and sport ('Programme').

It lays down the objectives of the Programme, the budget for the period 2021-2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)'lifelong learning' means learning in all its forms (formal, non-formal and informal learning) taking place at all stages in life, including early childhood education and care, general education, vocational education and training, higher education, and adult education, and resulting in an improvement in knowledge, skills and attitudes or participation in society in a personal, civic, cultural, social and/or employment-related perspective, including the provision of counselling and guidance services;

(2)'learning mobility' means moving physically to a country other than the country of residence, in order to undertake study, training or non-formal or informal learning; It may be accompanied by measures such as language support and training and/or be complemented by online learning and virtual cooperation. In some specific cases, it may take the form of learning through the use of information technology and communications tools;

(3)'non-formal learning' means voluntary learning which takes place outside formal education and training through purposive activities (in terms of objectives, methods and time) and with some form of learning support;

(4)'informal learning' means learning resulting from daily activities and experiences which is not organised or structured in terms of objectives, time or learning support. It may be unintentional from the learner's perspective;

(5)'young people' means individuals aged between 13 and 30;

(6)'grassroots sport' means organised sport practised at local level by amateur sports people, and sport for all;

(7)'higher education student' means any person enrolled at a higher education institution, including at short-cycle, bachelor, master or doctoral level or equivalent. It also covers recent graduates;

(8)'staff' means any person who, on either a professional or a voluntary basis, is involved in education, training or non-formal learning, and may include professors, teachers, trainers, school leaders, youth workers, sport coaches, non-educational staff and other practitioners involved in promoting learning;

(9)'vocational education and training learner' means any person enrolled in an initial or continuous vocational education or training programme at any level from secondary up to post-secondary level. It includes the participation of individuals who have recently graduated from such programmes;

(10)'school pupil' means any person enrolled in a learning capacity at an institution providing general education at any level from early childhood education and care to upper secondary education, considered by the national authorities as eligible to participate in the Programme, in their respective territories;

(11)'adult education' means any form of non-vocational education for adults after initial education, whether of a formal, non-formal or informal nature;

(12)'third country not associated to the Programme' means a third country which does not participate fully in the Programme but whose legal entities may exceptionally benefit from the Programme in duly justified cases in the Union's interest;

(13)'third country' means a country that is not a Member State;

(14)'partnership' means an agreement between a group of institutions and/or organisations to carry out joint activities and projects;

(15)'joint master degree' means an integrated study programme offered by at least two higher education institutions resulting in a single degree certificate issued and signed by all the participating institutions jointly and recognised officially in the countries where the participating institutions are located;

(16)'international' relates to any action involving at least one third country not associated to the Programme;

(17)'virtual cooperation' means any form of cooperation using information technology and communications tools;

(18)'higher education institution' means any type of higher education institution which, in accordance with national law or practice, offers recognised degrees or other recognised tertiary level qualifications, whatever such establishment may be called as well as any other type of higher education institution which is considered by the national authorities as eligible to participate in the Programme, in their respective territories;

(19)'transnational' relates to any action involving at least two countries which are either Member States or third countries associated to the Programme;

(20)'youth participation activity' means an out-of-school activity carried out by informal groups of young people and/or youth organisations, and characterised by a non-formal learning approach;

(21)'youth worker' means a professional or a volunteer involved in non-formal learning who supports young people in their personal socio-educational and professional development;

(22)'EU Youth dialogue' means the dialogue with young people and youth organisations which serves as a forum for continuous joint reflection on the priorities, implementation and follow-up of European cooperation in the youth field;

(23)'third country associated to the Programme' means a third country which is party to an agreement with the Union allowing for its participation in the Programme and which fulfils all the obligations laid down in this Regulation in relation to Member States;

(24)'legal entity' means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, Union law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality in accordance with Article [197(2)(c)] of the Financial Regulation;

(25)'people with fewer opportunities' means people facing obstacles that prevent them from having effective access to opportunities under the Programme for economic, social, cultural, geographical or health reasons, a migrant background or for reasons such as disability and educational difficulties;

(26)'national authority' means the authority in charge, at national level, of monitoring and supervising the management of the Programme in a Member State or in a third country associated to the Programme;

(27)'national agency' means one or more bodies in a given Member State or third country associated to the Programme in charge of managing the implementation of the Programme at national level. There may be more than one national agency in a given Member State or third country associated to the Programme.

Article 3

Programme objectives

1.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 Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and developing the European dimension in sport.

2.The Programme has the following specific objectives:

(a)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;

(b)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;

(c)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.

3.The objectives of the Programme shall be pursued through the following three key actions:

(a)learning mobility ('key action 1');

(b)cooperation among organisations and institutions ('key action 2'); and

(c)support to policy development and cooperation ('key action 3');

The objectives shall also be pursued through Jean Monnet actions as set out in Article 7.

The description of the actions supported under each key action is set out in Chapter II (education and training), Chapter III (youth) and Chapter IV (sport).

CHAPTER II

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Article 4

Key action 1
Learning mobility

In the field of education and training, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 1:

(a)the mobility of higher education students and staff;

(b)the mobility of vocational education and training learners and staff;

(c)the mobility of school pupils and staff;

(d)the mobility of adult education staff;

(e)language learning opportunities, including those supporting mobility activities.

Article 5

Key action 2
Cooperation among organisations and institutions

In the field of education and training, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 2:

(a)partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices, including small-scale partnerships to foster a wider and more inclusive access to the Programme;

(b)partnerships for excellence, in particular European universities, Centres of vocational excellence and joint master degrees;

(c)partnerships for innovation to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity;

(d)online platforms and tools for virtual cooperation, including the support services for eTwinning and for the electronic platform for adult learning in Europe.

Article 6

Key Action 3
Support to policy development and cooperation

In the field of education and training, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 3:

(a)the preparation and implementation of the Union general and sectoral policy agendas in education and training, including with the support of the Eurydice network or activities of other relevant organisations;

(b)the support to Union tools and measures that foster the quality, transparency and recognition of competences, skills and qualifications 45 ;

(c)policy dialogue and cooperation with key stakeholders, including Union-wide networks, European non-governmental organisations and international organisations in the field of education and training;

(d)measures that contribute to the qualitative and inclusive implementation of the Programme;

(e)cooperation with other Union instruments and support to other Union policies;

(f)dissemination and awareness-raising activities about European policy outcomes and priorities as well as on the Programme.

Article 7

Jean Monnet actions

The Programme shall support teaching, learning, research and debates on European integration matters through the following actions:

(a)Jean Monnet action in the field of higher education;

(b)Jean Monnet action in other fields of education and training;

(c)support to the following institutions pursuing an aim of European interest: the European University Institute, Florence, including its School of Transnational Governance; the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin campuses); the European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht; the Academy of European Law, Trier; the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, Odense and the International Centre for European Training, Nice.

CHAPTER III

YOUTH

Article 8

Key action 1
Learning mobility

In the field of youth, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 1:

(a)the mobility of young people;

(b)youth participation activities;

(c)DiscoverEU activities;

(d)the mobility of youth workers.

Article 9

Key action 2
Cooperation among organisations and institutions

In the field of youth, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 2:

(a)partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices, including small-scale partnerships to foster a wider and more inclusive access to the Programme;

(b)partnerships for innovation to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity;

(c)online platforms and tools for virtual cooperation.

Article 10

Key action 3
Support to policy development and cooperation

In the field of youth, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 3:

(a)the preparation and implementation of the Union policy agenda on youth, with the support of the Youth Wiki network;

(b)Union tools and measures that foster the quality, transparency and recognition of competences and skills, in particular through Youthpass;

(c)policy dialogue and cooperation with relevant key stakeholders, including Union-wide networks, European non-governmental organisations, and international organisations in the field of youth, the EU Youth dialogue as well as support to the European Youth Forum;

(d)measures that contribute to the qualitative and inclusive implementation of the Programme;

(e)cooperation with other Union instruments and support to other Union policies;

(f)dissemination and awareness-raising activities about European policy outcomes and priorities as well as on the Programme.

CHAPTER IV

SPORT

Article 11

Key action 1
Learning mobility

In the field of sport, the Programme shall support, under key action 1, the mobility of sport coaches and staff.

Article 12

Key action 2
Cooperation among organisations and institutions

In the field of sport, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 2:

(a)partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices, including small-scale partnerships to foster a wider and more inclusive access to the Programme;

(b)not for profit sport events aiming at further developing the European dimension of sport.

Article 13

Key action 3
Support to policy development and cooperation

In the field of sport, the Programme shall support the following actions under key action 3:

(a)the preparation and implementation of the Union policy agenda on sport and physical activity;

(b)policy dialogue and cooperation with relevant key stakeholders, including European non-governmental organisations and international organisations in the field of sport;

(c)dissemination and awareness-raising activities about European policy outcomes and priorities and about the Programme, including sport prizes and awards.

CHAPTER V

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 14

Budget

1.The financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the period 2021-2027 shall be EUR 30 000 000 000 in current prices.

2.The Programme shall be implemented according to the following indicative distribution:

(a)EUR 24 940 000 000 for actions in the field of education and training, from which:

(1)at least EUR 8 640 000 000 should be allocated to higher education actions referred to in point (a) of Article 4 and point (a) of Article 5;

(2)at least EUR 5 230 000 000 to actions in vocational education and training referred to in point (b) of Article 4 and point (a) of Article 5;

(3)at least EUR 3 790 000 000 to school education actions referred to in point (c) of Article 4 and point (a) of Article 5;

(4)at least EUR 1 190 000 000 to adult education actions referred to in point (d) of Article 4 and point (a) of Article 5;

(5)EUR 450 000 000 for Jean Monnet actions referred to in Article 7;

(b)EUR 3 100 000 000 for actions in the field of youth referred to in Articles 8 to 10;

(c)EUR 550 000 000 for actions in the field of sport referred to in Articles 11 to 13; and

(d)at least EUR 960 000 000 as a contribution to the operational costs of the national agencies.

3.In addition to the financial envelope as indicated in paragraph 1, and in order to promote the international dimension of the Programme, an additional financial contribution shall be made available from Regulation …/… [Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument] 46 and from Regulation …/… [IPA III] 47 , to support actions implemented and managed in accordance with this Regulation. This contribution shall be financed in accordance with the Regulations establishing those instruments.

4.The amount referred to in paragraph 1 may be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Programme such as preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities, including corporate information technology systems.

5.Without prejudice to the Financial Regulation, expenditure for actions resulting from projects included in the first work programme may be eligible as from 1 January 2021.

6.Resources allocated to Member States under shared management may, at their request, be transferred to the Programme. The Commission shall implement those resources directly in accordance with [point (a) of Article 62(1)] of the Financial Regulation or indirectly in accordance with [point (c)] of that Article. Where possible those resources shall be used for the benefit of the Member State concerned.

Article 15

Forms of EU funding and methods of implementation

1.The Programme shall be implemented, in a consistent manner, in direct management in accordance with the Financial Regulation or in indirect management with bodies referred to in Article [61(1)(c)] of the Financial Regulation.

2.The Programme may provide funding in any of the forms laid down in the Financial Regulation, in particular grants, prizes and procurement.

3.Contributions to a mutual insurance mechanism may cover the risk associated with the recovery of funds due by recipients and shall be considered a sufficient guarantee under the Financial Regulation. The provisions laid down in [Article X of] Regulation X [successor of the Regulation on the Guarantee Fund] shall apply.

CHAPTER VI

PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMME

Article 16

Third countries associated to the Programme

1.The Programme shall be open to the participation of the following third countries:

(a)members of the European Free Trade Association, which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the European Economic Area agreement;

(b)acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions, or similar agreements, and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(c)countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions, or similar agreements, and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(d)other third countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down in a specific agreement covering the participation of the third country to any Union programme, provided that the agreement:

–ensures a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country participating in the Union programmes;

–lays down the conditions of participation in the programmes, including the calculation of financial contributions to individual programmes and their administrative costs. These contributions shall constitute assigned revenues in accordance with Article [21(5)] of the Financial Regulation;

–does not confer to the third country a decisional power on the programme;

–guarantees the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect its financial interests.

2.The countries referred to in paragraph 1 shall fully take part in the Programme only insofar as they fulfil all the obligations which this Regulation imposes on Member States.

Article 17

Third countries not associated to the Programme

As regards the actions referred to in Articles 4 to 6, points (a) and (b) of Article 7, and Articles 8 to 10, 12 and 13, the Programme may be open to the participation of the following third countries:

(a)third countries referred to in Article 16 which do not fulfil the condition set out in paragraph 2 of that Article;

(b)any other third country.

Article 18

Rules applicable to direct and indirect management

1.The Programme shall be open to public and private legal entities active in the fields of education, training, youth and sport.

2.When implementing the Programme, inter alia in the selection of participants and the award of grants, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure that efforts are made to promote social inclusion and improve outreach to people with fewer opportunities.

3.For selections under both direct and indirect management, the evaluation committee referred to in Article [145(3), third indent] of the Financial Regulation may be composed of external experts.

4.Public entities, as well as institutions and organisations in the fields of education, training, youth and sport that have received over fifty percent of their annual revenue from public sources over the last two years shall be considered as having the necessary financial, professional and administrative capacity to carry out activities under the Programme. They shall not be required to present further documentation to demonstrate that capacity.

5.To improve access to people with fewer opportunities and ensure the smooth implementation of the Programme, the Commission may adjust or may authorise the national agencies referred to in Article 23 to adjust, on the basis of objective criteria, the grants to support mobility actions of the Programme.

6.The Commission may launch joint calls with third countries not associated to the Programme or their organisations and agencies to finance projects on the basis of matching funds. Projects may be evaluated and selected through joint evaluation and selection procedures to be agreed upon by the funding organisations or agencies involved, in compliance with the principles set out in the Financial Regulation.

CHAPTER VII

PROGRAMMING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Article 19

Work programme

The Programme shall be implemented by work programmes referred to in Article [108] of the Financial Regulation. In addition, the work programme shall give an indication of the amount allocated to each action and of the distribution of funds between the Member States and third countries associated to the Programme for the actions to be managed through the national agency. The work programme shall be adopted by the Commission by means of an implementing act. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 31.

Article 20

Monitoring and reporting

1.Indicators to report on the progress of the Programme towards the achievement of the general and specific objectives laid down in Article 3 are set out in the Annex.

2.To ensure effective assessment of the Programme towards the achievement of its objectives, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 to amend the Annex to review or complement the indicators where considered necessary and to supplement this Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework.

3.The performance reporting system shall ensure that data for monitoring Programme implementation and evaluation are collected efficiently, effectively, in a timely manner and at the appropriate level of detail by beneficiaries of Union funds within the meaning of Article [2(5)] of the Financial Regulation. To that end, proportionate reporting requirements shall be imposed on beneficiaries of Union funds and Member States.

Article 21

Evaluation

1.Evaluations shall be carried out in a timely manner to feed into the decision-making process.

2.The interim evaluation of the Programme shall be performed once there is sufficient information available about the implementation of the Programme, but no later than four years after the start of the programme implementation. It shall also be accompanied by a final evaluation of the predecessor programme.

3.Without prejudice to the requirements set out in Chapter IX and the obligations of national agencies as referred to in Article 24, Member States shall submit to the Commission, by 30 April 2024, a report on the implementation and the impact of the Programme in their respective territories.

4.At the end of the implementation period, but no later than four years after the end of the period specified in Article 1, a final evaluation of the Programme shall be carried out by the Commission.

5.The Commission shall communicate the conclusions of the evaluations accompanied by its observations to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

CHAPTER VIII

INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION

Article 22

Information, communication and dissemination

1.National agencies referred to in Article 24 shall develop a consistent strategy with regard to the effective outreach as well as dissemination and exploitation of results of activities supported under the actions they manage within the Programme, shall assist the Commission in its general task of disseminating information concerning the Programme, including information in respect of actions and activities managed at national and Union level, and its results, and shall inform relevant target groups about the actions and activities undertaken in their country.

2.The recipients of Union funds shall acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding, in particular when promoting the actions and their results, by providing coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.

3.The legal entities within the sectors covered by the Programme shall use the brand name 'Erasmus' for the purpose of communication and dissemination of information relating to the Programme.

4.The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to the Programme, and its actions and results. Financial resources allocated to the Programme shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, as far as they are related to the objectives referred to in Article 3.

CHAPTER IX

MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SYSTEM

Article 23

National authority

1.By […], the Member States shall notify the Commission, by way of a formal notification transmitted by their Permanent Representation, of the person(s) legally authorised to act on their behalf as the national authority for the purposes of this Regulation. In the event of replacement of the national authority during the course of the Programme's lifetime, the Member State concerned shall notify the Commission thereof immediately, in accordance with the same procedure.

2.The Member States shall take all necessary and appropriate measures to remove any legal and administrative obstacles to the proper functioning of the Programme, including, where possible, measures aimed at resolving issues that give rise to difficulties in obtaining visas.

3.By […], the national authority shall designate a national agency or national agencies. In cases where there is more than one national agency, Member States shall establish an appropriate mechanism to coordinate the management of the implementation of the Programme at national level, particularly with a view to ensuring coherent and cost-efficient implementation of the Programme and effective contact with the Commission in this respect, and to facilitating the possible transfer of funds between agencies, thereby allowing for flexibility and better use of funds allocated to Member States. Each Member State shall determine how it organises the relationship between its national authority and the national agency, including tasks such as the establishment of the national agency's work programme.
The national authority shall provide the Commission with an appropriate ex-ante compliance assessment that the national agency complies with points (c)(v) and (vi) of Article [58(1)] and Article [60(1), (2) and (3)] of the Financial Regulation, and with the Union requirements for internal control standards for national agencies and rules for the management of programme funds for grant support.

4.The national authority shall designate an independent audit body as referred to in Article 26.

5.The national authority shall base its ex-ante compliance assessment on its own controls and audits, and/or on controls and audits undertaken by the independent audit body referred to in Article 26. Where the national agency designated for the Programme is the same as the national agency designated for the predecessor Programme, the scope of the ex-ante compliance assessment shall be limited to the requirements that are new and specific to the Programme.

6.In the event that the Commission rejects the designation of the national agency based on its evaluation of the ex-ante compliance assessment, or if the national agency does not comply with the minimum requirements set by the Commission, the national authority shall ensure that the necessary remedial steps are taken to ensure that the national agency complies with the minimum requirements, or shall designate another body as national agency.

7.The national authority shall monitor and supervise the management of the Programme at national level. It shall inform and consult the Commission in due time prior to taking any decision that may have a significant impact on the management of the Programme, in particular regarding its national agency.

8.The national authority shall provide adequate co-financing for the operations of its national agency to ensure that the Programme is managed in compliance with the applicable Union rules.

9.Based on the national agency's yearly management declaration, the independent audit opinion thereon and the Commission's analysis of the national agency's compliance and performance, the national authority shall, each year, provide the Commission, with information concerning its monitoring and supervision activities in relation to the Programme.

10.The national authority shall take responsibility for the proper management of the Union funds transferred by the Commission to the national agency in the framework of the Programme.

11.In the event of any irregularity, negligence or fraud attributable to the national agency, or any serious shortcomings or underperformance on the part of the national agency, where this gives rise to claims by the Commission against the national agency, the national authority shall be liable to reimburse to the Commission the funds not recovered.

12.In the circumstances referred to in paragraph 11, the national authority may, on its own initiative or upon request from the Commission, revoke the mandate of the national agency. Where the national authority wishes to revoke that mandate for any other justified reason, it shall notify the Commission of the revocation at least six months before the envisaged date of termination of the mandate of the national agency. In such cases, the national authority and the Commission shall formally agree on specific and timed transition measures.

13.In the event of revocation, the national authority shall carry out the necessary controls regarding the Union funds entrusted to the national agency whose mandate has been revoked, and shall ensure an unimpeded transfer to the new national agency of those funds and of all documents and management tools required for the management of the Programme. The national authority shall provide the national agency whose mandate has been revoked with the necessary financial support to continue to meet its contractual obligations vis-à-vis the beneficiaries of the Programme and the Commission pending the transfer of those obligations to a new national agency.

14.If so requested by the Commission, the national authority shall designate the institutions or organisations, or the types of such institutions and organisations, to be considered eligible to participate in specific Programme actions in their respective territories.

Article 24

National agency

1.The national agency shall:

(a)have legal personality or be part of an entity having legal personality, and be governed by the law of the Member State concerned; a ministry may not be designated as a national agency;

(b)have the adequate management capacity, staff and infrastructure to fulfil its tasks satisfactorily, ensuring efficient and effective management of the Programme and sound financial management of Union funds;

(c)have the operational and legal means to apply the administrative, contractual and financial management rules laid down at Union level;

(d)offer adequate financial guarantees, issued preferably by a public authority, corresponding to the level of Union funds it shall be called upon to manage;

(e)be designated for the duration of the Programme.

2.The national agency shall be responsible for managing all stages of the project lifecycle of the actions that shall be described in the work programme referred to in Article [19], in conformity with [points (c)(v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)] of the Financial Regulation.

3.The national agency shall issue grant support to beneficiaries within the meaning of Article [2(5)] of the Financial Regulation by way of a grant agreement as specified by the Commission for the Programme action concerned.

4.The national agency shall report each year to the Commission and to its national authority in accordance with Article [60(5)] of the Financial Regulation. The national agency shall be in charge of implementing the observations issued by the Commission following its analysis of the yearly management declaration and of the independent audit opinion thereon.

5.The national agency may not without prior written authorisation from the national authority and the Commission delegate to a third party any task of Programme or budget implementation conferred on it. The national agency shall retain sole responsibility for any tasks delegated to a third party.

6.Where the mandate of a national agency is revoked, that national agency shall remain legally responsible for meeting its contractual obligations vis-à-vis the beneficiaries of the Programme and the Commission pending the transfer of those obligations to a new national agency.

7.The national agency shall be in charge of managing and winding up the financial agreements relating to the predecessor programme that are still open at the beginning of the Programme.

Article 25

European Commission

1.On the basis of the compliance requirements for national agencies referred to in Article 23(3), the Commission shall review the national management and control systems, in particular on the basis of the ex-ante compliance assessment provided to it by the national authority, the national agency's yearly management declaration and the opinion of the independent audit body thereon, taking due account of the yearly information provided by the national authority on its monitoring and supervision activities with regard to the Programme.

2.Within two months of receipt from the national authority of the ex-ante compliance assessment referred to in Article 23(3), the Commission shall accept, conditionally accept or reject the designation of the national agency. The Commission shall not enter into a contractual relationship with the national agency until it has accepted the ex-ante compliance assessment. In the event of conditional acceptance, the Commission may apply proportionate precautionary measures to its contractual relationship with the national agency.

3.The Commission shall each year make the following Programme funds available to the national agency:

(a)funds for grant support in the Member State concerned for the actions of the Programme the management of which is entrusted to the national agency;

(b)a financial contribution in support of the Programme management tasks of the national agency which shall be established on the basis of the amount of Union funds for grant support entrusted to the national agency;

(c)if relevant, additional funds for measures under point (d) of Article 6 and point (d) of Article 10.

4.The Commission shall set the requirements for the national agency work programme. The Commission shall not make Programme funds available to the national agency until the Commission has formally approved the national agency's work programme.

5.After assessing the yearly management declaration and the opinion of the independent audit body thereon, the Commission shall address its opinion and observations thereon to the national agency and the national authority.

6.In the event that the Commission cannot accept the yearly management declaration or the independent audit opinion thereon, or in the event of unsatisfactory implementation by the national agency of the Commission's observations, the Commission may implement any precautionary and corrective measures necessary to safeguard the Union's financial interests in accordance with Article [60(4)] of the Financial Regulation.

7.Regular meetings shall be organised with the network of national agencies in order to ensure coherent implementation of the Programme across all Member States and all third countries referred to in Article 17.

Article 26

Independent audit body

1.The independent audit body shall issue an audit opinion on the yearly management declaration as referred to in Article [60(5)] of the Financial Regulation. It shall form the basis of the overall assurance pursuant to Article [123] of the Financial Regulation.

2.The independent audit body shall:

(a)have the necessary professional competence to carry out public sector audits;

(b)ensure that its audits take account of internationally accepted audit standards;

(c)not be in a position of conflict of interest with regard to the legal entity of which the national agency forms part. In particular, it shall be independent, in terms of its functions, of the legal entity of which the national agency forms part.

3.The independent audit body shall give the Commission and its representatives, as well as the Court of Auditors, full access to all documents and reports in support of the audit opinion that it issues on the national agency's yearly management declaration.

CHAPTER X

CONTROL SYSTEM

Article 27

Principles of the control system

1.The Commission shall take appropriate measures ensuring that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of measures to prevent fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective controls and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties.

2.The Commission shall be responsible for the supervisory controls with regard to the Programme actions and activities managed by the national agencies. It shall set the minimum requirements for the controls by the national agency and the independent audit body.

3.The national agency shall be responsible for the primary controls of grant beneficiaries for the Programme actions referred to in Article 24(2). Those controls shall give reasonable assurance that the grants awarded are used as intended and in compliance with the applicable Union rules.

4.With regard to the Programme funds transferred to the national agencies, the Commission shall ensure proper coordination of its controls with the national authorities and the national agencies, on the basis of the single audit principle and following a risk-based analysis. This provision shall not apply to investigations carried out by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

Article 28

Protection of the financial interests of the Union

Where a third country participates in the Programme by a decision under an international agreement or by virtue of any other legal instrument, the third country shall grant the necessary rights and access required for the authorizing officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences. In the case of the European Anti-Fraud Office, such rights shall include the right to carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013.

CHAPTER XI

COMPLEMENTARITY

Article 29

Complementarity with other Union policies, programmes and funds

1.The Programme shall be implemented so as to ensure its overall consistency and complementarity with other relevant Union policies, programmes and funds, in particular those relating to education and training, culture and the media, youth and solidarity, employment and social inclusion, research and innovation, industry and enterprise, digital policy, agriculture and rural development, environment and climate, cohesion, regional policy, migration, security and international cooperation and development.

2.An action that has received a contribution from the Programme may also receive a contribution from any other Union programme, provided that the contributions do not cover the same costs.

3.Where the Programme and the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EU)XX [CPR] provide jointly financial support to a single action, that action shall be implemented in accordance with the rules set out in this Regulation, including rules on recovery of amounts unduly paid.

4.Actions eligible under the Programme which have been assessed in a call for proposals under the Programme and which comply with the minimum quality requirements of that call for proposals, but which are not financed due to budgetary constraints, may be selected for funding by the European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds. In this case the co-financing rates and the eligibility rules based on this Regulation shall apply. These actions shall be implemented by the managing authority referred to in Article [65] of Regulation (EU)XX [CPR] in accordance with the rules set out in that Regulation and fund specific regulations, including rules on financial corrections.

CHAPTER XII

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 30

Exercise of the delegation

1.The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2.The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 20 shall be conferred on the Commission until 31 December 2028.

3.The delegation of power referred to in Article 20 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016.

5.As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6.A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 20 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 31

Committee procedure

1.The Commission shall be assisted by a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.The committee may meet in specific configurations to deal with sectoral issues. Where appropriate, in accordance with its rules of procedure and on an ad hoc basis, external experts, including representatives of the social partners, may be invited to participate in its meetings as observers.

3.Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 32

Repeal

Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 is repealed with effect from 1 January 2021.

Article 33

Transitional provisions

1.This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification of the actions initiated under Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013, which shall continue to apply to the actions concerned until their closure.

2.The financial envelope for the Programme may also cover technical and administrative assistance expenses necessary to ensure the transition between the Programme and the measures adopted under Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013.

3.By way of derogation from Article [130(2)] of the Financial Regulation, and in duly justified cases, the Commission may consider the costs directly linked to the implementation of the supported activities and incurred during the first six months of 2021 as eligible for financing from 1 January 2021, even if they were incurred by the beneficiary before the grant application was submitted.

4.If necessary, appropriations may be entered in the budget beyond 2027 to cover the expenses provided for in Article 14(5), to enable the management of actions and activities not completed by [31 December 2027].

5.Member States shall ensure at national level the unimpeded transition between the actions carried out in the context of the Erasmus+ programme (2014-2020) and those to be implemented under this Programme.

Article 34

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the […] [twentieth] day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

1.1.Title of the proposal/initiative

1.2.Policy area(s) concerned (programme cluster)

1.3.Nature of the proposal/initiative

1.4.Grounds for the proposal/initiative

1.5.Duration and financial impact

1.6.Management mode(s) planned

2.MANAGEMENT MEASURES

2.1.Monitoring and reporting rules

2.2.Management and control system

2.3.Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities

3.ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

3.1.Heading(s) of the multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected

3.2.Estimated impact on expenditure

3.2.1.Summary of estimated impact on expenditure

3.2.2.Estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature

3.2.3.Third-party contributions

3.3.Estimated impact on revenue

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

1.1.Title of the proposal/initiative

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) No 1288/2013

1.2.Policy area(s) concerned (Programme cluster)

7. Investing in People, Social Cohesion and Values

1.3.The proposal/initiative relates to:

☑ a new action

◻ a new action following a pilot project/preparatory action 48

◻ the extension of an existing action

◻ a merger or redirection of one or more actions towards another/a new action

1.4.Grounds for the proposal/initiative

1.4.1.Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term including a detailed timeline for roll-out of the implementation of the initiative

In the short and long term the Programme aims to support learning mobility opportunities that contribute to the personal, educational, civic and professional development of individuals. The Programme will also support cooperation between stakeholders at organisational and policy level with a view to foster inclusion, excellence, creativity and innovation in education, training, youth and sport.

Subject to the entry into force of its basic act, the Programme is planned to be implemented as of 1st January 2021, for a duration of seven years.

1.4.2.Added value of Union involvement

While Member States remain responsible for the content and organisation of their policies in the fields concerned, the Programme aims to boost transnational and international mobility and cooperation projects, as well as to support policy developments with a European dimension.

The objectives of this initiative cannot be adequately and sufficiently achieved by the Member States by reason of the transnational character, high volume and wide geographical scope of the learning mobility and cooperation activities funded, their effects on access to learning mobility and more generally on Union integration, as well as reinforced international dimension. As demonstrated by the Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, single initiatives of education institutions or Member States, though deemed efficient and beneficial at national level, have insufficient scale and volume, and do not reach a European-wide effect. Union actions allow to strengthen critical mass and to address pan-European challenges in the areas concerned. In terms of scope, the cumulative individual country and cross sectoral coverage remains limited compared to the current Erasmus+ programme.

The Erasmus+ mid-term 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 main Union added value of the cooperation activities as outlined by the evaluation concerns gains of quality, innovation, professionalisation and internationalisation for the involved organisations, as well as increased levels of cross-sectoral cooperation, improved geographical balance, with small countries and countries from central and Eastern Europe being better integrated. The evaluation also showed that the programme is actively building positive attitudes towards the European Union 49 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 European Union, in particular young people, school pupils and learners in vocational education and training.

The Union added value also derives from the cumulative effect of the programme's activities to stimulate Europe's expertise, notably in certain key sectors of the future, strengthening the Union's competitiveness and innovation capacity. The transnational and international dimension of the supported activities nurture talents and develop connections in sectors that require a high degree of internationalisation. The programme will contribute to increase the volume of skilled professionals, whom have benefited from an international experience and have enriched their technical and transversal skills. The Union added value will be to shape the next generation of creative and innovative European citizens and help establish a true European mind-set. The transnational European dimension will develop connections in sectors that require a high degree of internationalisation. The support of innovation at Union 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. The programme will also contribute, both directly and indirectly, to harness opportunities and to tackle challenges currently faced by organisations, institutions, as well as by systems and policies that cater for citizens' personal, socio-educational and professional development by providing them with high quality, innovative and inclusive education, training, youth and sport activities. The programme will also include an action that is specifically designed to widen the access to the programme to smaller-sized actors and which will support flexible formats (generally transnational and, in exceptional cases, national activities with a strong European dimension, such as activities on a specific European theme or policy priority). This will allow organisations with lower organisational capacity and participants with little or no experience in transnational cooperation, such as grassroots organisations and newcomers, to have a first time experience in accessing Union funds and gaining knowledge in view of future transnational cooperation activities.

1.4.3.Lessons learned from similar experiences in the past

The recently completed Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation 50 assessed the progress in implementing Erasmus+ in the period 2014-2016 in all participating countries, as well as examined the long-term impact of the seven predecessor programmes for the period 2007-2013 (ex-post evaluation), including in partner countries. The evaluation found that Erasmus+ and its predecessor programmes have demonstrated strong relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. Overall, the programme is highly 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 and perceived as a Union flagship action. The mid-term evaluation also found evidence that the programme is contributing to a more cohesive Union and that it is effective in triggering innovation among organisations that participate in the programme. Erasmus+ has also proved important for the Union’s global outreach, notably by facilitating the cooperation between Europe and partner countries.

Robust evidence has been produced about the effectiveness of the programme at various levels i.e. individual young people and staff benefiting from the programme, as well as organisations and systems. The programme has shown its capacity to expand and to adapt to new target groups as well as to continuously improve its delivery mechanisms. Erasmus+ has partially reduced the administrative burden for stakeholders and beneficiaries – e.g. enhancing digitalisation and introducing fast-track grant selection procedures. Reduced administrative burden enhanced the non-financial performance of the supported projects as beneficiaries were able to focus more on their projects' content. The evaluation also established that the restructuring of predecessor programmes into a single integrated programme has strengthened its coherence in terms of alignment between types of actions funded and the programme intervention logic, improved its efficiency, and simplified its architecture in three key actions. The stakeholders are calling for stability or progressive evolutions in the future.

The evaluation recommended for the future programme:

- to boost inclusiveness (both for individuals and organisations) for the vulnerable groups and to widen access to the programme, namely for individuals with fewer opportunities;

- to optimise the actions aimed at stimulating innovation, contributing to bridge the skills and competences gap;

- to better prioritise and to invest strategically in the sectors with the highest potential performance - schools, vocational education and training, youth;

- to maximise relevance and impact of adult learning, Jean Monnet and Sport actions;

- to boost European awareness: reinforce measures to foster understanding of European integration and sense of belonging to Europe;

- to increase international opportunities and the programme's global outreach;

- to further simplify programme rules and administrative procedures, including on international actions, optimised online tools, and reduced amount of information required from participants and beneficiaries;

- to reinforce and develop new synergies with other Union instruments and policies;

- to better involve policy-makers in the design and implementation of policy calls.

1.4.4.Compatibility and possible synergy with other appropriate instruments

The Programme is one of the funding instruments under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework aiming at investing in people, social cohesion and values. The Programme will be consistent with and complementary to other Union instruments, in particular the external cooperation instruments 51 , the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Social Fund Plus and the European Regional Development Fund. The Programme will also seek synergies with the Asylum Migration Fund as well as with the Internal Security Fund. There are also important potential complementarities between the objectives and interventions of the Programme and the future Rights and Values programme. The Programme will be consistent with and constitute an important complement to the future Creative Europe programme. In the field of youth, the Programme will also be consistent with, and complement the European Solidarity Corps by offering different types of activities. In the field of digital skills, the Digital Europe Programme will complement the wide approach of Erasmus+ to skills by supporting the development and acquisition of advanced digital skills.

Great potential for complementarities and synergies has been identified regarding common objectives (e.g. qualitative development of education, training and youth systems, human capital development, etc.). These Union programmes are crucial for a more competitive, resilient, and future-proof Europe. Improved synergies and complementarities are expected to increase the coherence between the spending programmes and enable effective cooperation, responding to the current societal challenges.

Although these programmes are supported by distinct instruments, with independent modi operandi, different intervention logics, management modes and architecture, their interaction can generate converging effects. Therefore, synergies will be looked for where they are possible and bring further added value.

New or reinforced synergies could be established at several levels:

1. at strategic level, enhanced coherence and better alignment of shared policy objectives;

2. at programming level, enhanced coherence of priorities and compatible implementation frameworks;

3. at project level, strategic pooling of funding from several sources.

As a concrete tool to enhance the implementation of synergies, it is proposed to integrate other mobility schemes with a strong learning dimension under Erasmus, thereby using the Erasmus programme infrastructure and delivery mechanisms as a "vehicle", and following the Erasmus intervention logic. A new action would be introduced with a view to supporting mobility of different categories of organisations or individuals that are targeted specifically in other policy areas (e.g. public governance sector, agriculture and rural development, enterprise, law enforcement, etc.). This will contribute to enhanced implementation coherence, as well as further simplification and efficiency gains. This Erasmus "vehicle" will be offered as a centralised action, for its limited critical mass (at least in its initial phase), as well as its cross-sectoral component.

1.5.Duration and financial impact

⌧ limited duration

–⌧ in effect from 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2027

–⌧ Financial impact from 2021 to 2027 for commitment appropriations and from 2021 to 2032 for payment appropriations.

◻ unlimited duration

–Implementation with a start-up period from YYYY to YYYY,
followed by full-scale operation.

1.6.Management mode(s) planned 52

⌧ Direct management by the Commission

–⌧ by its departments, including by its staff in the Union delegations;

–⌧ by the executive agencies

◻ Shared management with the Member States

⌧ Indirect management by entrusting budget implementation tasks to:

–⌧ third countries or the bodies they have designated;

–◻ international organisations and their agencies (to be specified);

–◻the EIB and the European Investment Fund;

–◻ bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of the Financial Regulation;

–⌧ public law bodies;

–⌧ bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they provide adequate financial guarantees;

–◻ bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that provide adequate financial guarantees;

–◻ persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU, and identified in the relevant basic act.

Comments

Regarding the delivery mechanisms the instruments (mainly grants) and the management modes - direct management and indirect management - will be preserved as no structural change is needed in the programme's modus operandi.

2.MANAGEMENT MEASURES

2.1.Monitoring and reporting rules

The future Erasmus monitoring and evaluation framework will follow an approach based on a) continuous monitoring to assess the progress towards achieving the output and results targets of the programme; and b) evaluations and studies/surveys to identify long-term impact of the programme, measured only few times over the programming cycle (formal mid-term and ex-post evaluation exercises, and dedicated independent studies and surveys).

The objective is to use existing arrangements to the extent possible and to simplify, rationalise, and reduce the administrative burden for participants (individuals and organisations), while ensuring that sufficient information is collected to assess the impact of the programme and to safeguard accountability. Consequently, the rules for monitoring and reporting will be systematically established in view of their efficiency and cost-effectiveness, based on the experience gained in the current programme, without compromising the data needs for the purposes of evaluation.

In line with the mid-term evaluation findings, the next Erasmus programme aims to simplify and to improve the monitoring system with regard to:

- clarity and relevance of output indicators, as well as of the quality of the data;

- robustness of the self-reported results indicators;

- proportionality between the related burden on beneficiaries (number and frequency of surveys, samples of respondents, amount and level of complexity of data collected, etc.) and the use of the data for monitoring, evaluation and dissemination purposes;

- user-friendliness and further inter-operability of online tools.

2.2.Management and control system(s)

2.2.1.Justification of the management mode(s), the funding implementation mechanism(s), the payment modalities and the control strategy proposed

The proposed continued combination of programme management modes (direct and indirect) is based on the positive experience of the implementation of the current Erasmus+ programme, as evaluated at mid-term that found them fit for purpose "with a good overall coordination and no major inefficiencies identified". It builds on the existing structures, in compliance with the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality and efficiency.

The preservation of tried and tested modalities will allow focusing on delivery and performance, safeguard proven efficiency gains, while minimising administrative burden (such as what was experienced during the transition from the 2007-2013 to the 2014-2020 programme generation). The general principle would be maintained: as a general rule, no direct support will be given to individual beneficiaries; support will continue to be channelled through participating organisations, which will distribute it to individual learners or practitioners.

Overall the costs of management for the Union the current Erasmus+ programme are reasonable (6% of the Erasmus administrative and operational budget) 53 . This is particularly clear when compared to smaller national actions, which appear more costly (on average, 14% of their respective budget).

2.2.2.Information concerning the risks identified and the internal control system(s) set up to mitigate them

The risks identified in the implementation of the current programmes fall mainly into the following categories:

- errors derived from the inexperience of beneficiaries with the rules. Error rates and financial adjustments are expected to be higher in the case of actions with more complex financial management rules, in particular when grants are based on real costs. This risk can be largely mitigated by using simplified costs (lump sums, flat rates and scales of unit costs) as permitted by the Financial Regulation;

- reliability of the control chain and maintenance of the audit trail. Erasmus would be managed by a large number of intermediaries, the National Agencies, with supervisory controls provided by an Independent Audit Body as foreseen in the Financial Regulation, as well as operational and governance supervision by the National Authorities. The control framework that mitigates these risks is very well established;

- specific target participants (e.g. youth or adult sectors) may not have the necessary financial solidity or sophisticated management structures and capacity for managing Union funds, and would be subject to additional monitoring and checks based on risk assessment.

The main simplification to mitigate the risks and to reduce error rates resulting from the complexity of financial rules will be the wide use of grants in the form of lump sums, flat rates and scales of unit costs, and simplified formats of actions, making the rules easy to follow, while preserving accountability.

All entrusted entities are always responsible for the primary level of controls in order to ensure the protection of the Union’s financial interest, while the Commission is responsible for supervising the overall framework. This solid control system currently in place will be maintained to control the use of Union funds for the actions managed under indirect management by National Agencies and as well as under direct management, in accordance with the Financial Regulation. With regard to the Programme funds transferred to the National Agencies, the Commission shall ensure proper coordination of its controls with the national authorities and the national agencies, on the basis of the single audit principle and following a risk-based analysis. While National Agencies will be in charge of primary controls of beneficiaries, their system of internal control and compliance will continue to be monitored and supervised by the Member States/National Authorities and audited by an Independent Audit Body 54 . To ensure coherence and reliability of controls at country level, the Commission will continue to issue yearly control guidance.

The control system will be set up in a manner so as to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the controls. The Commission's supervision and performance frameworks will ensure a high level of monitoring and feedback to inform the policy approach. Erasmus will be included in the Commission's programme of Supervisory visits, financial audits, and monitoring and implementation visits, as well as guidance activities such as conferences, kick-off meetings, meetings of National Agencies, training courses and webinars.

2.2.3.Estimation and justification of the cost-effectiveness of the controls (ratio of "control costs ÷ value of the related funds managed"), and assessment of the expected levels of risk of error (at payment & at closure)

Regarding cost effectiveness, the Commission has made an initial estimation of the costs of the resources and inputs required for carrying out the controls and has estimated, in so far as possible, their benefits in terms of the amount of errors and irregularities prevented, detected and corrected by these controls but also in terms of non-quantifiable errors. This approach emphasises the core financial and operational checks of the control chain.

The control strategy is based on a single integrated control framework in order to provide reasonable assurance throughout the project cycle. The approach taken to assess cost-effectiveness of controls is based on the logic of building blocks of assurance and a single integrated control framework. The Commission differentiates the frequency and the intensity of the controls – in view of the different risk profiles among its current and future transactions and of the cost-effectiveness of its existing and alternative controls, in particular as outlined to National Agencies in the programme implementation guidance. Executive Agencies and all entrusted entities are always responsible for the primary level of controls in order to ensure the protection of the Union’s financial interest, while the Commission is responsible for supervisory controls.

The Commissions estimate is that the global cost of control is low, and in the range 1-5%, depending on the measure used, of the budget managed (Executive Agency's budget excluded). These costs are proportional and cost effective given the likely risk of error if such controls were not in place, and the requirement to ensure an error rate below 2%. Based on the experience with the current Erasmus+ and its predecessor programmes, which have an error rate of around 1% on a multiannual basis, the expected risk of error is less than 2%.

2.3.Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities

The controls aimed at preventing and detecting fraud are not unlike those intended to ensure the legality and regularity of the transactions (the unintentional errors). Each year the Commission reviews all reporting from National Agencies on possible fraud or irregularities. These cases are mainly followed up at national level where the National Agencies have direct access to means of legal redress and referral of fraud cases.

The Commission services contribute to ongoing European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) investigations and organise the follow-up to completed European Anti-fraud Office investigations. Financial prejudice to the Union's budget resulting from fraud established in final European Anti-fraud Office case reports concerning programmes with similar funding rules and stakeholders is low. Cases are referred to European Anti-fraud Office and to the Investigation and disciplinary Office (IDOC) as appropriate, but a significant number of cases are followed up during the year directly with National Agencies and National Authorities, who have direct access to the relevant judicial and anti-fraud entities.

Commission services implementing the action have developed and implemented their own anti-fraud strategy (AFS) since 2014, elaborated on the basis of the methodology provided by the European Anti-fraud Office. Regularly updated, it is supplemented with (most recently 2017), where appropriate, lower-level procedural documents, covering how cases are referred and followed up.

As concluded in the mid-term evaluation, given the fact that the scale of fraud within the programme is extremely limited and is largely restricted to cases of multiple project application submissions or project leaders failing to honour their obligations, the measures in place are considered both appropriate and proportionate. Considering the level of fraud impact potentially faced by the proposed programme, in particular the financial prejudice recorded by the European Anti-fraud Office, the residual risk of fraud does not justify additional measures. Commission services maintain close cooperation with the European Anti-fraud Office and follow the ongoing cases closely. Therefore it is possible to conclude positively on assurance in respect of fraud risk.

3.ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

3.1.Heading of the multiannual financial framework and new expenditure budget line(s) proposed

Heading of multiannual financial framework	Budget line	Type of expenditure	Contribution
	Heading 2 ‘Cohesion and Values’ Title 07 ‘Investing in People, Social Cohesion & Values’ Chapter 03 ‘Erasmus’	Diff./Non-diff.	from EFTA countries	from candidate countries	from third countries	within the meaning of Article [21(2)(b)] of the Financial Regulation

2	07 01 02 – Administrative support to the programme	Non Diff	YES	YES	YES/NO	NO
2	07 03 01 - 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	Diff	YES	YES	YES/NO	NO
2	07 03 02 - 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	Diff	YES	YES	YES/NO	NO
2	07 03 03 - 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	Diff	YES	YES	YES/NO	NO

3.2.Estimated impact on expenditure

3.2.1.Summary of estimated impact on expenditure

EUR million (to three decimal places)

Heading of multiannual financial framework	2		Cohesion & Values
			2021		2022		2023		2024		2025	2026	2027	Post 2027		TOTAL
Operational appropriations
07 03 01 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	Commitments	(1)		2,554.979		2,713.730		2,970.543		3,351.156	3,896.218	4,668.546	5,744.828			25,900.000
	Payments	(2)		2,065.608		2,487.261		2,817.465		3,197.250	3,706.250	4,413.914	5,401.834	1810.418		25,900.000
07 03 02 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	Commitments	(1)		305.808		324.809		355.548		401.104	466.343	558.783	687.605			3,100.000
	Payments	(2)		247.235		297.703		337.226		382.682	443.605	528.306	646.552	216.691		3,100.000
07 03 03 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	Commitments	(1)		54.256		57.627		63.081		71.164	82.738	99.139	121.994			550.000
	Payments	(2)		43.864		52.818		59.830		67.895	78.704	93.732	114.711	38.445		550.000
Appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope of the programme
07 01 02 Administrative support to Erasmus	Commitments = Payments	(3)		44.392		47.150		51.612		58.225	67.695	81.114	99.814			450.000
TOTAL appropriations for the envelope of the programme	Commitments	=1+3		2,959.435		3,143.317		3,440.783		3,881.648	4,512.994	5,407.582	6,654.241		30,000.000
	Payments	=2+3		2,401.103		2,884.931		3,266.128		3,706.051	4,296.254	5,117.067	6,262.907	2,065.558	30,000.000

Heading of multiannual financial
framework

‘Administrative expenditure’

		2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	Post 2027	TOTAL
Human resources 55		35.007	40.366	45.725	45.725	45.725	45.725	45.725		303.876
Other administrative expenditure		1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059		7.410
TOTAL appropriations under HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework	(Total commitments = Total payments)	36.066	41.425	46.784	46.784	46.784	46.784	46.784		311.286

		2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	Post 2027	TOTAL
TOTAL appropriations across HEADINGS of the multiannual financial framework	Commitments	2,995.501	3,184.742	3,487.567	3,928.432	4,559.778	5,454.366	6,701.025		30,311.286
	Payments	2,437.169	2,926.356	3,312.912	3,752.835	4,343.038	5,163.851	6,309.691	2,065.558	30,311.286

3.2.2.Summary of estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature

–◻ The proposal/initiative does not require the use of appropriations of an administrative nature

–◻ The proposal/initiative requires the use of appropriations of an administrative nature, as explained below:

EUR million (to three decimal places)

Years

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

TOTAL

HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework
Human resources	35.007	40.366	45.725	45.725	45.725	45.725	45.725	303.876
Other administrative expenditure	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	1.059	7.410
Subtotal HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework	36.066	41.425	46.784	46.784	46.784	46.784	46.784	311.286

Outside HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework
Human resources
Other expenditure of an administrative nature	44.392	47.150	51.612	58.225	67.695	81.114	99.814	450.000
Subtotal outside HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework	44.392	47.150	51.612	58.225	67.695	81.114	99.814	450.000

TOTAL

80.458

88.575

98.396

105.009

114.479

127.898

146.598

761.286

3.2.2.1.Estimated requirements of human resources 56

–◻ The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources.

–⌧ The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as explained below:

Years		2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027
• Establishment plan posts (officials and temporary staff)
Headquarters and Commission’s Representation Offices		225	261	296	296	296	296	296
Delegations
Research
External staff (in Full Time Equivalent unit: FTE) - AC, AL, END, INT and JED Heading 7
Financed from HEADING 7 of the multiannual financial framework	- at Headquarters	37	41	44	44	44	44	44
	- in Delegations
Financed from the envelope of the programme	- at Headquarters
	- in Delegations
Research
Other (specify)
TOTAL		262	302	340	340	340	340	340

Officials and temporary staff
External staff

Description of tasks to be carried out:

3.2.3.Third-party contributions

The proposal/initiative:

–◻ does not provide for co-financing by third parties

–◻ provides for the co-financing by third parties estimated below:

Appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places)

Years	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	TOTAL
Specify the co-financing body
TOTAL appropriations co-financed

3.3.Estimated impact on revenue

–◻ The proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue.

–◻ The proposal/initiative has the following financial impact:

–◻ on own resources

–◻ on other revenue

please indicate, if the revenue is assigned to expenditure lines ◻

EUR million (to three decimal places)

Budget revenue line:	Impact of the proposal/initiative
	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027
Article ………….

(1) COM(2018) 98 final.

(2) COM(2018) 321 final.

(3) COM(2017) 673 final.

(4) 70% of Europeans now feel that they are citizens of the European Union, a slight increase of two percentage points since 2017 and the highest score recorded since spring 2010. More than half the respondents (54%) know their rights as EU citizens, but more than two thirds would like to know more (Standard Eurobarometer 88 on EU citizenship from November 2017). See also the 2017 EU citizenship report, COM(2017) 30/2 final.

(5) For example just one third of students aged 14 (35%) know who votes to elect members of the European Parliament; IEA (2010) ICCS 2009 European Report Civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement among lower-secondary students in 24 European countries http://www.iea.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Electronic_versions/ICCS_2009_European_Report.pdf .

(6) TNS for the European Commission (2017) European Youth Eurobarometer https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/1fa75943-a978-11e7-837e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en .

(7) Learning Europe at School Study https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/83be95a3-b77f-4195-bd08-ad92c24c3a3c .

(8) the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA III).

(9) The European Regional and Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

(10) [Reference].

(11) COM(2018) 366.

(12) COM(2018) 267.

(13) COM(2018) 50 final and SWD(2018) 40 final.

(14) SWD(2018) 40 final.

(15) The Programme countries i.e. the twenty-eight Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Macedonia and Turkey.

(16) The Consultation was led by the European Commission Secretariat General and covered a cluster of programmes in fields of education/ training, culture, citizenship and justice. The consultation received 1127 responses which were directly relevant to the Erasmus + programme. Open public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility .

(17) See http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/resources/documents.evaluations_en.

(18) SEC(2018) 265. This opinion concerns a draft impact assessment report which differs from the one adopted.

(19) [Reference].

(20) Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA); European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI); Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI); Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries (PI).

(21) Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 (OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.).

(22) OJ C , , p. .

(23) OJ C , , p. .

(24) COM(2018) 98 final.

(25) OJ C 428, 13.12.2017, p. 10.

(26) COM(2018) 321 final.

(27) Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing 'Erasmus+': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions No 1719/2006/EC, No 1720/2006/EC and No 1298/2008/EC (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 50).

(28) COM(2016) 381 final.

(29) [Reference].

(30) [Reference - to be adopted by the Council by the end of 2018].

(31) COM(2018) 269 final.

(32) [Reference].

(33) COM(2018) [ ].

(34) OJ L […], […], p. […].

(35) OJ L […], […], p. […].

(36) COM(2017) 623 final.

(37) Council Decision 2013/755/EU of 25 November 2013 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union ('Overseas Association Decision') (OJ L 344, 19.12.2013, p. 1).

(38) Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 (OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1).

(39) Directive (EU) 2016/801 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing (OJ L 132, 21.5.2016, p. 21).

(40) Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011. Laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55 28.2.2011 p.13).

(41) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), OJ L 248 (18.9.2013, p. 1).

(42) Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).

(43) Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’) (OJ L 283, 31.10.2017, p. 1).

(44) Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means of criminal law (OJ L198, 28.7.2017, p. 29).

(45) In particular the single Union framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences ; the European Qualifications Framework; the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training; the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training; the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System; the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education; the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education; the European Network of Information Centres in the European Region and National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union; and the Euroguidance networks.

(46) [Reference].

(47) [Reference].

(48) As referred to in Article 58(2)(a) or (b) of the Financial Regulation.

(49) The positive association between participation in the programme and feeling of belonging to the Union is found across all sectors and all forms of participations. Learners benefiting directly from Erasmus+ were 19% more likely to feel European and 6% more likely to have positive feelings towards the Union – Source: Staff Working Document of Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation.

(50) https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/resources/documents.evaluations_en .

(51) The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA III).

(52) Details of management modes and references to the Financial Regulation may be found on the BudgWeb site: https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/budgweb/EN/man/budgmanag/Pages/budgmanag.aspx .

(53) This includes the operating grant for National Agencies as well as the administrative expenditure of the direct management.

(54) The independent audit body will issue an audit opinion on the yearly management declaration as referred to in Article [60(5)] of the Financial Regulation. It shall form the basis of the overall assurance pursuant to Article [123] of the new Financial Regulation.

(55) Staff estimates based on the 2018 level of Commision staff (excluding the staff of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency) with progressive phasing in. It does not include the estimated staff that will be needed for decentralised bodies, nor any additional staff paid from the contributions of the third countries that will be associated to the Programme.

(56) The estimated requirements of human resources are purely based on the current situation (as is) and are subject to further revisions. We anticipate an indicative 25 % of increase for the period 2021-2027.