On 8 September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT Committee) held an exchange of views with Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu on the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and its implications for Erasmus+ (see more ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, July 2025). 

EVP Mînzatu presented three key priorities for the programme: broadening access to include new groups of participants (“Erasmus as a right” for every young European), reinforcing European values, and strengthening the EU’s global competitiveness and several new features, including an increased focus on skills development, notably through targeted STEM scholarships, and new funding streams for the school (European School Alliances) and sports (mobility opportunities for athletes) sectors.  

EVP Mînzatu and CULT Committee members welcomed the proposed increase of the Erasmus+ budget to EUR 41 billion, perceiving it as a step forward towards achieving the inclusion ambition. However, several CULT Committee members noted that it partly results from the integration of the European Solidarity Corps into Erasmus+, as well as from adjustments for inflation. Concerns were also raised regarding the adequacy of funding to meet the expanded ambitions, as well as the lack of earmarked percentages for different sectors, which had been clearly defined in the current programming period. According to EVP Mînzatu, the sectors will continue to be supported within a more flexible framework, in synergy with other EU funds including Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund. 

Additional issues discussed included the participation of Hungarian students in Erasmus+, the programme’s contribution to democracy-building, and ways to enhance inclusion of vocational education and training (VET) students and youth organisations. CULT Committee members also addressed the future of the European Universities alliances in the next Erasmus+ programme.