​​The Erasmus European exchange programme is under threat with a shortfall in its budget reaching 90 million euros.

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Erasmus is a European exchange programme first established in 1987. Named after Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, the Erasmus scheme allows mobility for students who can gain credits for their degrees when studying abroad. Its objectives and benefits range from enhancing and regulating the quality of education across Europe to providing work experience placements for the European market.

 

Since 1987, Erasmus has helped to exchange 2.2 million students by offering grants to cover the extra costs of living abroad. The Erasmus fund has hit a serious shortfall in its budget, the effect of which could be seen as soon as this January.

According to University World News, the European Commission issued a statement saying that, “It’s not a problem in the short term because the commission has already transferred about 70% of the funding for Erasmus for the academic year 2012-13 to the national agencies who distribute the funds.

 

“Also, in most cases students receive the bulk of their Erasmus funding up front, with many receiving 80% of their grants in advance.”

However, the spokesman Dennis Abbott, warned that this would not last and an agreement is needed to secure the future of the Erasmus programme.

After calls to up the annual EU budget by 6.8%, an increase of €9 million, four EU countries - Austria, Britain, The Netherlands and Sweden - declined, while France, Finland and Germany demanded €5 billion more in cuts. However, given that the EU only spends 1% of its annual budget on education and training, government leaders all maintain the EU must spend more in this department.

Alain Lamassoure, head of the European parliament’s budget committee, blamed this situation on the austerity-minded governments of the EU. His bleak forecast following the announcement of bankruptcy from the European social fund is that the Erasmus programme and the Research and Innovation fund will be next.

Karina Ufert, chair of the European Students’ Union, called for addressing the budget shortfall by “using money from under-spent EU funds”.

According to a survey by the British Council, an agency that diffuses and exchanges knowledge in over 100 countries worldwide, 79% UK adults agree that they would have better job prospects now if they had seized the opportunity to study or live abroad. With the under 25s being the most likely to suffer, “the Erasmus programme should be powerfully increased and benefit a larger number of students, particularly those from low-income families” said French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.