Launch of the new Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027 in the Republic of Moldova, funded by the European Union

In the context of Europe Days 2021, the National Erasmus+ Office (NEO) in Moldova in collaboration with the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova organised on May 12-13 an official launch event of the Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027.

The new Erasmus+ Programme’s budget is 26.2 billion EUR, complemented by about 2.2 billion EUR from the EU’s external instruments. It is an almost double budget compared to the one from the previous 2014-2020 edition. Thus, the new revamped programme will fund learning mobility and cross-border cooperation projects for 10 million beneficiaries of all ages. It also aims to become more inclusive and to support the green and digital transitions.

The presentation of the new Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027 was made with the participation of the Ambassador of EU to the Republic of Moldova, Peter Michalko, the Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Lilia Pogolșa, and the State Secretary of  the Ministry Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Daniela Cujbă. A special online session was dedicated to Jean Monnet projects and application procedures presented by Antonio Fontelles de Lima – project officer at EACEA (European Education and Culture Executive Agency), and to Moldovan coordinators’ success stories in Jean Monnet projects implementation. Jean Monnet Actions promote excellence in teaching and research in the field of European Union studies worldwide and aim to foster the dialog between the academic world and the policy-makers, especially with the intention of consolidating EU policy governance.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, access to education is proving, more than ever, to be essential to ensuring a swift recovery, while promoting equal opportunities for all. As part of this recovery process, the Erasmus+ Programme takes its inclusive dimension to a new horizon by supporting opportunities for personal, socio-educational and professional development of people in Europe and beyond, with the aim of leaving no-one behind.

During the 2014-2020 edition of the Erasmus+ Programme, the higher education institutions from Moldova have already succeeded to implement:

• more than 3600 academic mobilities between the universities from Moldova and EU for students and academic staff;
• more than 600 International Credit Mobility projects;
• 21 Capacity Building for Higher Education projects;
• 22 Jean Monnet projects;
• 30 Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree scholarships for participants from the Republic of Moldova.

The Erasmus Programme was founded in 1987 becoming one of the most visible success stories of the European Union. It builds on the achievements of more than 30 years of European programmes in the fields of education, training, youth and sport, covering both an intra-European as well as an international partnerships dimension.