Erasmus+ 2028-2034: Council Agrees €40.8bn Mandate
May 18, 2026
Category: EU International Students News Youth Mobility
European Union (EU) ministers have given the green light to a beefed-up Erasmus+ programme worth €40.8 billion for 2028 to 2034, clearing the first major hurdle for the bloc’s flagship education and youth scheme.
The Council of the EU agreed its partial negotiating position on the regulation on 11 May 2026, opening the door to talks with the European Parliament.
The mandate covers the programme’s structure and rules but leaves the final budget for separate discussions on the next multiannual financial framework.
Dr Athena Michaelidou, Cyprus’ Minister for Education, Sport and Youth, framed the deal as a starting point.
“This agreement marks an important milestone for the future of Erasmus+,” she stated, adding that the Council’s mandate “strengthens the role of member states and ensures that all sectors… receive the visibility and support they deserve.”
Money talks still pending
The Commission tabled its proposal on 16 July 2025 as part of the broader Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package. The plan sets aside €40.8 billion in current prices, or €36.2 billion in 2025 prices.
That figure marks a roughly 30% jump on the combined €27.7 billion budget of the current Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes in 2025 prices. Funding from Global Europe would continue to top up the Erasmus+ pot.
Final numbers depend on the wider MFF deal, which remains under negotiation. Until that lands, the Council’s mandate is partial by design.
Solidarity corps folds in
The new Erasmus+ would absorb the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), including the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, into a single entry point.
The Council kept ESC-style actions intact, preserving support for youth participation and solidarity activities.
A reference to ESC-linked volunteering, including the humanitarian aid strand, was written back into the text. Youth exchanges and DiscoverEU stay in place, while grassroots sport mobility gains coverage that extends to sport staff.
Member states gain control
The Council retooled the governance set-up to give national capitals more say. It brought back the programme committee from the current scheme, giving member states sharper scrutiny powers over implementation.
Two categories of work programmes were carved out: a new action work programme for fresh Commission-managed initiatives, and a regular work programme for actions already receiving funding.
The text also gives each sector its own dedicated articles for visibility.
The Commission’s proposed “Erasmus+ scholarships” have been rebranded as “talent and excellence development opportunities”. The scope now stretches beyond joint study programmes to other initiatives with a transnational dimension.
For non-EU countries, ministers tightened the rules. The concept of partial association was kept, with a new requirement attached: participating non-EU countries must respect EU values.
Long road through Brussels
In the European Parliament, the Committee on Culture and Education leads the file. Polish EPP member Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski was named rapporteur on 4 November 2025.
Opinions are being drafted by the budgetary control, development, and employment committees under Rule 57, with the budgets committee involved under Rule 58.
CULT held an exchange of views with Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu on 8 September 2025 and has staged five stakeholder meetings on the proposal.
The Danish presidency steered the file through six Education Committee meetings between 17 July and 29 October 2025, drafting two compromise texts along the way.
Ministers took note of a Danish progress report at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on 27 November 2025.
The European Economic and Social Committee adopted its opinion on 21 January 2026. The European Committee of the Regions is still working on its own.
Erasmus+ has shaped more than 16 million lives over four decades, according to the Council. The programme covers education and training, youth, and sport, with seven specific objectives ranging from skills to the European sport model.
The new architecture rests on two pillars: learning opportunities for all, and capacity building support. Inclusion runs through the text, with a sharper focus on people who have fewer opportunities.
Borders shape picture
The Council mandate sits alongside Europe’s revamped border tech, which kicks in for short-stay travellers. The Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational on 10 April 2026, and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is due to launch in the final quarter of 2026.
Most incoming Erasmus+ participants from outside the EU are spared the new EES checks. Non-EU nationals coming for research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes, educational projects, or au pairing are exempt from registration.
Holders of long-stay visas and residence permits, typical for semester or full-degree mobility, also fall outside both EES and ETIAS. That keeps the bulk of long-term student flows clear of the new biometric layer at the border.
Short-stay visitors from visa-exempt countries face a different picture. Once ETIAS goes live, a youth exchange, DiscoverEU trip, or grassroots sport visit under 90 days in any 180-day window will need a €20 authorisation valid for up to three years or until the passport expires.
Most ETIAS decisions arrive within minutes. The system can take up to four days, stretching to 14 or 30 if more documents or an interview are needed, a timeline programme administrators will likely build into pre-departure guidance.
Cyprus and Ireland sit outside the EES and stamp passports the old-fashioned way. Time spent in Cyprus is also counted separately from the 90/180 rule under ETIAS, leaving a different administrative track for mobility involving the two islands.
Parliament talks begin next
The partial mandate gives the Council its negotiating brief for talks with the Parliament on the Erasmus+ regulation. The programme’s final price tag rides on the outcome of the MFF deal for 2028 to 2034.
The file carries procedure reference 2025/0222(COD) and was marked as tabled on 20 April 2026. With both co-legislators now lining up, the shape of Europe’s flagship learning scheme for the next decade is set to take form over the coming months.