Erasmus+ mobility must be a right for all, not just a chance for the privileged, said on Thursday the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Training, Roxana Mînzatu, who welcomed the measures adopted by Romania to make Erasmus mobility more accessible to students who need additional financial support.
"During the hearings in the European Parliament, I was asked to transform the Erasmus programme into a more inclusive one. I have taken on this objective and I treat it with all seriousness. Because Erasmus not only transforms the individual lives of participants, but, more importantly, builds the collective destiny of a united, strong and democratic Europe. "That is why, as I constantly argue in my political dialogues with the governments of the Member States, it is important that they combine the two funds: the Erasmus+ programme and the European Social Fund Plus. I encourage this approach, which is also reflected in the recently proposed European policies," said the representative of the EU executive, quoted in a statement issued by her office.
In Roxana Mînzatu's opinion, supplementing Erasmus scholarships from the European Social Fund Plus helps students with limited opportunities in Romania to benefit from academic mobility in Europe, to which they have been admitted.
"'It is not a solution for everyone, but it is a step in the right direction. In this regard, in Romania, since the beginning of my mandate, I have been sitting at the table with the two entities that manage the two funding sources, namely the Ministry of Investments and European Projects and the National Erasmus+ Agency, in order to identify the technical and legal steps together. I therefore welcome the allocation by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects of 16 million euros from the European Social Fund Plus to supplement Erasmus scholarships dedicated to participants from vulnerable backgrounds and the launch, at the end of March, of the funding call," said Mînzatu.
By accessing this 16 million euro budget by the National Erasmus+ Agency, the concrete result will be that at least 4,000 students with fewer opportunities will be able to benefit from additional financial support to participate in Erasmus+ mobilities.
The categories of students from Romania who will have access to the Erasmus scholarship supplement from the European Social Fund Plus are:
- students who benefit from a social scholarship or who meet the conditions to benefit from a social scholarship granted by the higher education institution at which they are enrolled;
- "first student in the family" (meaning that he/she does not already hold a bachelor's degree, his/her parents did not obtain a university degree, but he/she may have brothers/sisters who are already university students or have already graduated from a university);
- the student who has the status of a single parent (who raises his/her minor child alone due to the death, disappearance, imprisonment of the other parent or non-recognition through the birth certificate);
- the student who comes from a rural or small urban area in Romania;
- the student who has migrant or refugee status.
"My belief is that a strong Europe needs Erasmus mobility to become a right for all and not a privilege for some," concluded the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Training.
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