Evaluation of the current Swiss Erasmus+ programme

Switzerland has not been associated with Erasmus+ since 2014. However, the EU education programme represents an opportunity for universities as well as for vocational and school education. Over three issues, we assess and highlight the prospects for each of these areas.

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Movetia is publishing three notebooks – covering the three fields of school education, vocational training and higher education – presenting the European Erasmus+ programme and explaining the opportunities offered by the corresponding Swiss Programme since 2014. The documents examine the state of play in the field of international mobility and cooperation while also illustrating the potential that would be offered by Switzerland’s full participation in the next generation of European Erasmus+ programmes over the period 2021-2027.

The Swiss Programme for Erasmus+ was designed as an urgent measure for the period 2014-2020 in order to ensure that Swiss stakeholders in the education sector would continue to have access to funding instruments with a view to encouraging individual mobility for the purposes of learning and fostering cooperation between Swiss and European educational institutions. The structure of this programme, funded unilaterally by the Swiss state, is based very closely on the European Union’s programme, although it does not provide access to all the possibilities for international cooperation.

The Federal Council will examine potential membership of the programme scheduled to supersede Erasmus+ in 2021 as soon as the guidelines and budget for the new programme 2021-2027 have been adopted and published by the European Union (EU).

Erasmus+, the European programme for education and training

Erasmus+ is the European Union’s programme for education, training, youth and sport covering the period 2014-2020. The member states of the European Union together with non-members of the EU with the status of full associate member can participate in the programme on condition that they pay a financial contribution agreed with the European Commission. The following non-members of the EU currently participate in the Erasmus+ programme: Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. [MH1] Switzerland is not a member of the Erasmus+ programme. Its status as a non-member country only offers it partial access to the activities of the European programme.

On the topic

  • Die Schweiz könnte sich 2027 Erasmus+ wieder anschliessen

    Der Bundesrat hat an seiner Sitzung am 6. November den Grundsatzentscheid für die Beteiligung an Erasmus+ getroffen. Er wird dem Parlament den entsprechenden Finanzierungsbeschluss im Rahmen der Botschaft zum Gesamtpaket über die Verhandlungen mit der EU unterbreiten. Damit könnte die Schweiz 2027 dem europäischen Bildungsprogramm Erasmus+ wieder beitreten. 

    Laws and regulations Erasmus+

    November 6, 2024

  • Switzerland - Erasmus+: symbolic engagement on the Bundesplatz

    On Friday 9 February, several student associations gathered on the Bundesplatz in Bern. Their aim: to mark the 10th anniversary of Switzerland's exclusion from the European exchange programme Erasmus+, following the acceptationof the initiative against mass immigration. After speaking in public, the organisers held a symbolic engagement ceremony between Switzerland and Erasmus+. They called on the Federal Council to press ahead with negotiations with the EU in the perspective of a re-association to the mobility programme.

    Erasmus+

    February 9, 2024

  • Mobility is now opening up to the whole world

    As of 2023, Movetia will be supporting mobility worldwide, not just in Switzerland and Europe. This geographical opening up is in line with a political objective and with the logical development of Movetia’s activities. Following the expansion of cooperation projects, it is now time to broaden the scope of Movetia’s international activities. The new legal bases will offer more opportunities for exchange and mobility and will contribute to the development and quality of the Swiss education system.

    Erasmus+ Media release

    September 13, 2023