Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current position of the Erasmus+ scheme (1) in this year, and (2) in future years; and in what ways Brexit has affected that scheme.

The government values international exchange and collaboration in education and training as part of its vision for a global Britain. Irrespective of the outcome of Article 50 negotiations with the EU, the government wants UK and European countries to continue to give young people and students the chance to benefit from each other’s world leading universities post-exit.

Under the terms of the proposed Withdrawal Agreement, UK organisations and participants will continue to be able to take part in the Erasmus+ Programme this year and in the future up to the end of the current Multiannual Financial Framework.

While securing a negotiated deal remains the government’s top priority, we are committed to ensuring that organisations, students and participating staff are prepared in the event of a no deal EU exit. To provide more clarity, we published a new technical notice at the end of January, which provides detailed guidance to organisations and students on the UK’s anticipated participation in the current Erasmus+ programme (2014-20) in the event of no deal. The technical notice, attached, can be found at: https://bit.ly/2GaP28y.

As is set out in this notice, the government’s underwrite guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK organisations for all successful (those that are approved directly by the European Commission or by the National Agency and ratified by the European Commission) Erasmus+ bids. This includes projects and participants that are only informed of their success, or who sign a grant agreement, after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and commits to underwrite funding for the entire lifetime of the projects.

The UK is open to participating in the next Erasmus+ programme (2021-27). We have been considering the draft regulation for the successor scheme carefully and have been actively participating in discussions on this. Ultimately, participation in the successor programme is a matter for negotiations to come about our future relationship with the EU.