The EU, the world’s largest student mobility program, aims to boost regional and global mobility this decade.
EU’s ‘Europe on the Move’ Targets for Student Mobility by 2030
The European Council approved the European Commission’s recommendation to expand learning, training, and study opportunities in European countries.
The adopted recommendation is called “Europe on the Move,” and these are its targets:
- At least 23% of higher education graduates should have a learning mobility experience by 2030.
- At least 12% of vocational education and training (VET) learners should also have this experience by 2030.
- At least 20% of all learners “with fewer opportunities” should have learning experience in another EU country by 2027.
The 2022 Eurobarometer survey found only 15% of Europeans aged 15–30 participated in learning or training abroad. This compares to 24% of Australian undergraduates, 16% of American undergraduates, and 7% of undergraduates who had participated in some type of international learning or training experience as of 2019.
The previous target for EU mobility was 20%, established as part of the Bologna Process in 2009.
To achieve the goals of “Europe on the Move,” the European Commission recommends “strengthening language-learning at all stages of education and training, raising awareness about learning mobility opportunities, and improving recognition of learning outcomes obtained as a result of mobility.”
It also calls on “existing synergies and complementarities between the EU programmes that address learning mobility, such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, and other funding instruments at EU, international, national and regional level, such as the EU’s Cohesion Policy funds, in particular the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus, with its Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve (ALMA) initiative.”
In 2022, Erasmus+, on its own, enabled 1.2 million participants to undertake learning, training, or study abroad with a budget of €4 billion. It enabled 26,000 projects and involved about 73,000 organisations. It was given a boost to its budget for the 2021-2027 period in a goal of ensuring that more EU students have the opportunity to learn outside their country at least once in their studies.
Commenting on the new EU initiative, Caroline Désir, Minister of Education, French Community of Belgium, said:
“Mobility has long been at the heart of the EU project. Learning abroad can provide valuable skills and a stronger sense of the EU’s common values. Today’s recommendation will help expand opportunities for everyone to take advantage of the immense benefits that come with learning, studying or training outside their country of birth.”
