A recent modification of the procedural rules will help speed up the selection process for EU grants in the fields of lifelong learning, culture, youth and citizenship as well as the Erasmus Mundus funds.

The European Parliament and the Council have amended the legal basis of the Lifelong Learning Programme, the Erasmus Mundus programme and others. Decisions on the selection of projects can now be put in practice more quickly and efficiently. Many of the decisions to award EU-financing to projects under these programmes have so far been subject to an advisory procedure which involves the consultation of both the programme committees, made up of member state's representatives, and the European Parliament. The Council and the Parliament have agreed that the decisions can now be taken without this consultation, which could save up to three months.

In the days of quality assurance and ever more complex processes in all fields, the simplification of these procedures come as quite a sensation.

European Commission