PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Future membership of Erasmus + (21 January 2020)

That this House celebrates that over 17,000 students at UK universities studied or worked abroad through the Erasmus+ programme in 2017-18, as well as thousands of school pupils, college students, apprentices, adult learners and teachers who took part in projects to study, work or train abroad, build international partnerships and share best practice; recognises that Erasmus+ has made studying abroad attractive and affordable by providing financial assistance to students who take part; highlights that the benefits of studying or working abroad include increased employability and the opportunities to learn a new language, fall in love with another country’s culture, build new friendships and act as ambassadors for the UK overseas; notes that the EU intends to expand Erasmus+ from 2021, with MEPs voting in March 2019 both to triple its budget for 2021-27 compared to 2014-20, and to place greater emphasis on widening access to study abroad opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; recalls the conclusions of the House of Lords European Union Committee’s 28th Report of Session 2017-19 that a replacement UK-led student mobility scheme would find it impossible to replicate aspects of Erasmus which are key to facilitating international exchanges, namely, the programme’s strong brand, trusted reputation, common rulebook and framework for partnership agreements, and its established network of potential partners; and accordingly calls on the Government to follow the Committee’s recommendation to seek full association to the 2021-27 Erasmus programme.

Sponsored by:
Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat)