MPs vote against seeking to negotiate UK participation in #Erasmus+
#ErasmusPlus – MPs vote against seeking to negotiate full membership of the EU’s Erasmus+ education and youth programme after #Brexit
On 8 January, MPs voted against an amendment to the Withdrawal Bill Agreement on the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. MPs voted against New Clause 10 being read a second time, by 344 votes to 254.
The proposed clause to the Withdrawal Act Bill would have required the Government to seek to negotiate continuing full membership of the EU’s Erasmus+ education and youth programme.
The vote does not mean the government can no longer participate in the Erasmus+ programme and the matter will be part of the future negotiations with the EU.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
The Government is committed to continuing the academic relationship between the UK and the EU, including through the next Erasmus+ programme if it is in our interests to do so. The vote last night does not change that.
As we enter negotiations with the EU, we want to ensure that UK and European students can continue to benefit from each other’s world-leading education systems.
Did you see our very own International Director @EmmaM_AoC discussing @EUErasmusPlus live on @BBCNews last Thursday? ?? Watch a clip from the interview below. ⬇️ #Erasmus #LoveOurColleges pic.twitter.com/6Vfact3dcd
— Association of Colleges (AoC) (@AoC_info) January 13, 2020
When I was an academic I set up several Erasmus agreements & I also spent time teaching students on an Erasmus programme in Lille. I’ve experienced first hand how these exchanges allow young adults to grow & learn, explore Europe, & meet new people. This is so close minded. https://t.co/CQcVymps5H
— Jo Grady (@DrJoGrady) January 9, 2020
Lords debate report on #Brexit and UK participation in the Erasmus and Horizon programmes
The House of Lords debated the EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee’s report on Brexit: the Erasmus and Horizon Programmes on 1st April 2019
The debate was being moved by Lord Jay of Ewelme the Chairman of the Committee and Viscount Younger of Leckie responded on behalf of the Government.
The Committee called on the Government to clarify its plans for future UK access to the EU’s international mobility and research programmes, ‘Erasmus+’ and ‘Horizon 2020’, and successor arrangements which are due to start in 2021.
The Committee found that participation in these programmes provides clear benefits to the UK beyond simply grant funding, including access to networks, connections, and opportunities to collaborate with European partners built over decades of close cooperation.
It would be a formidable challenge – and risky – to try to replicate these benefits at a national level. The Committee therefore calls on the Government to see full UK participation in the successor programmes, as an associated third country.
In a ‘no deal’ scenario, the Government has said it would underwrite funding to preserve the UK’s access to these programmes until the end of 2020. However, contingency plans recently published by the EU would only allow continued UK participation in projects that have already started before exit day, and (for Erasmus) up to a maximum of 12 months.
The Committee urged the Government to explain how this would be administered and how it would replace major research funding schemes not open to non-EU and non-associated countries: the European Research Council grants and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which account for about 44% of total UK receipts from Horizon 2020.
Other members listed to speak included:
Responses