The Erasmus programme, which celebrated its two millionth student this summer, allows young people to spend part of their university studies at a foreign institution.
EU and government officials, as well as representatives of higher education institutions, NGOs and student groups, are currently discussing challenges facing the Erasmus scheme as well as its future prospects at a Swedish EU Presidency-backed conference at the University of Lund.
Issues to be addressed by stakeholders include how to better promote and fund the scheme, with a particular focus on boosting university-business cooperation, as well as how to simplify its administration.
Presenting the two millionth Erasmus student with an award at the Lund conference yesterday, new EU Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth Maroš Šefčovič said "the Commission strongly supports the view that going abroad to learn should become the rule rather than the exception for young Europeans".
The Commission wants to improve the Erasmus programme to allow more students to benefit from it, and launched a public consultation in July on how to encourage more young people to study abroad, as well as on how to remove remaining obstacles to mobility (see 'Background').
The consultation closes on 15 December.
