Five ACA members with representation in Brussels—the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, Branch Office in Brussels), the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir, NorCore), the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research (DZS, CZELO), the Swiss National Agency for Exchange and Mobility (Movetia, SwissCore) and VLUHR International—together with the ACA Secretariat, organised an event titled “The Future of Europe = The future of Erasmus+” on 29 April 2025 in Brussels.  

Organised at a key moment in time ahead of the European Commission’s proposals for the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the new Erasmus+ regulation expected in early July, the event brought together more than 100 Brussels-based stakeholders and EU policy makers, including speakers representing the European Parliament (MEP Hannes Heide, CULT Committee) and the European Commission (Stefan Zotti, DG EAC; Filip van Depoele, DG EAC; Agnieszka Skuratowicz, DG INTPA; Julie Fionda, DG EMPL); the European External Action Service (Mercedes García Pérez); member states’ and national level representatives (Arleta Zaremba, Poland; Leo Kilroy, Ireland; Rahel Byland, Switzerland); student organisations (Iris Kimizoglu, ESU and Rita Dias, ESN); higher education and professional associations (Michael Gaebel, EUA; Andreas Corcoran, IAU; Dirk Bochar, Engineers Europe), as well as members of the ACA Administrative Council (Gro Tjore, HK-dir; Stephan Geifes, DAAD; Roman Klepetko, DZS; Maija Airas, EDUFI; Runa Vigdís Guðmarsdóttir; Rannis; Vidar Pedersen, HK-dir).  

Offering the opportunity to reflect on the strategic challenges and opportunities of the future Erasmus+ programme, the event was informed by ACA findings and recommendations from the recently published ACA policy paper, "The future of Erasmus+ is the future of Europe. Why further invest in (higher) education at EU level?" (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, February 2025) and its upcoming policy input on specific areas for enhancement or improvement in the future Erasmus+ programme. ACA’s second policy input will be published in early May in response to the EU public consultation on EU funding for cross-border education as well as external action, among the areas with special relevance for higher education (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, March 2025).