There have been several developments in three of the European Commission's mobility programmes, which are highlighted as a composite story below:

A) Erasmus Mundus: almost 1000 new third-countries graduates and academics to study and teach in the EU in 2005-2006 B) Tempus - 108 new projects in international cooperation in higher education C) Leonardo da Vinci -  86 million Euro to boost innovation in vocational training / Enhancing mobility with 70.000 new exchanges in vocational training in 2005

A) Erasmus Mundus: almost 1000 new third-countries graduates and academics to study and teach in the EU in 2005-2006

The European Commission has selected 803 third-country students and 133 third-country scholars from all over the world to receive Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the next academic year (2005-2006). The students will study in Europe for one or two years to obtain a European masters’ degree from one of the 35 Erasmus Mundus masters courses. They will follow their courses in at least two universities in two different countries, giving them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with European lifestyles, cultures and languages. The scholars will instead spend an average of three months in Europe working for one of the Erasmus Mundus masters courses. 

Nearly EUR 30 million (of which EUR 17 million under the general programme and EUR 13 million under the Asian “windows”) will be used to fund the 803 Erasmus Mundus students. More than EUR 1.5 million (of which EUR 270 000 for the China “Window”) have been set aside to fund the scholars. The student grant will vary between EUR 21.000 and EUR 42.000, depending on the duration of the courses. Scholars’grants will be on average EUR 13.000 for a period of 3 months.

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B) Tempus - 108 new projects in international cooperation in higher education

The European Commission has selected 108 university co-operation projects under the Tempus Programme to start on 1 September 2005. Each project lasts for a period of two or three years and involves a minimum of three universities in the European Union and its neighbouring countries. The projects will be the EU’s contribution to the modernisation of the higher education systems of the partner countries.

The selected projects have a Commission contribution total of 44 million Euro.  The selection procedure included a consultation of national authorities in the partner countries so as to ensure that the projects are fully line with national educational priorities and was carried out by a rigorous academic and technical assessment by university experts.

Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner:  The Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner added:" Tempus offers fantastic opportunities to young people in our partner countries and their experience of Europe helps us build closer relationships for the future. I am particularly keen to offer the full potential of Tempus to our partners under the European Neighbourhood Policy"

Background and partner countries of Tempus: Tempus is the European Union’s programme for supporting the modernisation of higher education in 27 countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region, mainly through university cooperation projects. With its instruments it develops and upgrades curricula and university management practices, promotes higher education reform and encourages mobility of academic and administrative staff. The programme is based on the understanding that higher education institutions are vital for the process of social and economic transition in our neighbouring countries. The Tempus programme has been operating successfully since 1990 in the Central and Eastern Europe countries; it was subsequently extended to cover the Western Balkans, TACIS countries and the countries in the MEDA region.

C) Leonardo da Vinci -  86 million Euro to boost innovation in vocational training / Enhancing mobility with 70.000 new exchanges in vocational training in 2005

Date: 8-Jul-2005

The European Commission has selected 295 projects from 31 countries to receive grants under the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The programme promotes trans-national cooperation to foster innovation in and improve the quality of European vocational education and training. A total of 86 million Euro has been awarded to co-finance the selected projects.

In a related development, The European Commission also reports that selection of mobility projects for the Leonardo da Vinci programme have produced very good results. The projects will exchange almost 70.000 traineeships in total (i.e. an average of 23 trainees per project) for the year 2005.  The mobility scheme, which was allocated a budget of € 120 M this year, has doubled the number of grant recipients in almost five years.

J?n Figel’, the Member of the European Commission responsible for Education and Training, stressed that the Leonardo da Vinci programme, by supporting the mobility of people in vocational training, is contributing actively to the emergence of a genuine European labour market in which the qualifications obtained in another country may be recognised at European level, while benefiting European citizenship.

In 2005:

• Almost half of all beneficiaries (31.000) will be young people in initial vocational training who will spend between three weeks and nine months in a company or vocational training institution abroad.
• 12.000 students (20%) will be able to complete a placement in a company abroad for between three and twelve months.
• 11.800 young workers and recent graduates will leave for a period of between two and twelve months.

Almost 300 000 people received a Leonardo grant between 2000 and 2005. And with the launch of the Europass in January 2005 (European passport for vocational training and qualifications), qualifications and skills acquired during a traineeship in another country may be recognised, under certain conditions, in the trainees’ country of origin. People who receive Leonardo da Vinci grants will be able to obtain the “Europass-Mobility” document, which is one of the documents included in the Europass.