Erasmus on budget – will there be funding?
Early this fall it became clear that the Erasmus student mobility grant is underfunded. This is due to earlier shortages in the EU budget and a lower budget for 2012 than the European Commission asked for in the negotiations with the European Parliament and member states. Overall, the European Commission needs € 9 billion euros extra for their 2012 expenditures, of which € 90 million is needed to comply with the agreements made for the Erasmus programme.
Students won’t get money?
Shortly after the news came out, there were concerns that the ongoing Erasmus exchanges could not be funded. Different media reported that students had to return before finishing their exchange. The European Commission responded with a no panic message (the ‘yet’ from the initial message was removed shortly after its release) and a 
FAQ press release, which were not entirely comforting.
Student organisations and members of European Parliament expressed their concern, and stressed the importance of the Erasmus programme for young people all over Europe. But how will both the EC and national governments – the 2 parties financing Erasmus – deal with the shortage?
Where will the money come from?
On December 13th, the European Parliament approved an extra € 6 billion for 2012 to bridge the spending gap in research, education and employment programmes, covering the € 90 million for Erasmus. Since this is funded from the 2013 budget, it means shifting the problem to the budget of next year, which is set at € 132.84 billion for the EU. Although this offers opportunities to shift posts – 90 million is ‘only’ 0.068% of the total budget – the 2013 budget is under pressure as it is estimated to be € 5 billion short of what is needed.
This ongoing funding shortage might eventually affect the new EC proposed programme Erasmus for All currently under review at the European Parliament (EP) CULT committee (where it was recently renamed YES Europe). The estimated budget for Erasmus for All/YES Europe for the timeframe 2014–2018 is € 19 billion, meaning that the € 90 million would be an estimated 0.5% of the proposed budget.
Effect European budget cuts?
Lastly there were conceptions that flagship programs such as Erasmus are facing important challenges due to the bank crisis and budget cuts for the European Commission.
From the European Union side this all depends on the negotiations of the EU multi-annual financial framework 2014–2020. The European Commission proposed a budget increase of 68% for education purposes, and an estimated increase of 90% of the budget for higher education activities within the successor of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP). The EP CULT committee already declared that a budget increase is necessary. Therefore it is too premature to draw the conclusion that flag ship programmes are threatened by the bank crisis.
At least, from the European financing side. Besides the EU, national governments are also financing part of Erasmus scholarships. Due to budget cuts, national contribution to scholarships is being cut, such as by the Spanish government.
What would Erasmus do?
On 15 April 1500 Erasmus is said to have written in a letter, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes". Lets hope for the students this “any money” will be left.