Erasmus programme will be challenged to bring more integration within the EU. The US does not have a similar programme that includes so many different cultures and places.

Published: Thursday 29 September 2005 , EurActiv.

The Commission says that co-operation among member states is key to avoid the situation in the US where the number of incoming non-EU students has plummeted.

DG Education’s Director General Nikolaus van der Pas told a Friends of Europe seminar entitled ‘Can Europe close the education gap?’ that co-operation among member states is key to avoid the scenario in the US where student numbers have dropped dramatically.

His comments come with widespread terrorist security concerns prompting some member states to clamp down more in terms of visas. The fear is that this may deter students from applying to European universities, as has happened in the US. So far the UK and Australia have benefited in particular from the US problems, said Mr van der Pas.

During the debate, on 27 September, Mr Van der Pas also explained that a ‘China window’, with special funding coming from DG External Relations, had been set up within the Erasmus Mundus programme, to encourage Asian students to come to European universities.

Reacting to a question from EurActiv, he said that the Commission was not concerned that private funding in member state educational systems could lead to undue interference in syllabuses because “quality assurance was dealt with under the Bologna Process and this will increase”.

There are huge amount of students heading from universities in the newest Member States to those in the EU-15 and far fewer students going in the other direction, says Education and Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding in an interview with EurActiv.

The Luxembourg-born commissioner believes that the internet information system will allow students to find out about the opportunities available and is confident that EU-15 students will head East when they find out that they can get a good education for less money. She is optimistic that students from the EU-15 will, over time, get to know about the high quality universities in Eastern Europe. “Most students today don’t travel and that’s why I’m eager to increase the numbers of Erasmus students,” adds the commissioner.

She is concerned about situations where study grants are insufficient because living costs are much higher. “If you want to go to Paris then just affording accommodation is a problem,” she points out, adding that this is something which will have to be sorted out over time.

She highlights that the Bologna Process, under which students across the EU would spend three years doing their Bachelors and two years on their Masters, envisages an EU system of peer review quality controls. “The recognition of diplomas is in the hands of national ministers and will become more transparent under the Bologna Process because of the control of quality of universities, which will, I believe, be to the advantage of students”.

Her view is that these controls will drive up standards because they will enable people to make comparisons between universities. She points out that “most of our public universities are very good and that will become clear” but adds that this does not mean she is against private universities, many of which, such as the Bocconi Institute in Milan, offer a recognised diploma and very high quality content. However, she is keen to eliminate poor quality commercial education where it exists and is worried about what she calls “university business” where citizens are unaware of what is valuable and what is not.

Reding also notes that the first Erasmus Mundus European Masters students will graduate in the summer of 2006 and is hopeful that this scheme, which she regards as a flagship of quality, will launch reforms in universities and collaboration between universities so that students gain a broader cultural experience during their studies.