From Erasmus to Erasmus+ A Story of 30 Years

 Investment in education, training, and research is the best investment we can make for Europe future. Through its Erasmus programme, the EU offers excellent opportunities to study, train, work or volunteer across Europe to several million people, including many Montenegrins, said the EU Ambassador to Montenegro, Aivo Orav.

At any moment, we must be aware that the Union is at the centre of our focus and it helps us to maintain the direction and pace of reforms; our main goal in this is to benefit our citizens and young people. With this in mind, we have enacted amendments to the Law on Higher Education which show our intention to improve the quality of education, improve students ability to fight for their place amidst fierce market competition and create an enabling environment in which students and teachers can achieve their maximum potential, said Damir Šehović, the Minister of Education.

Exchanges and study, as Ambassador Orav explains, strengthen European identity and have a positive impact not only on individuals, but also on the institutions and the quality of the education they offer.

European countries offer some of the best education in the world and some of the best working opportunities. Erasmus+ offers the possibility to study and work across the EU for people in all EU member states, and also for people from other countries. This makes the whole of Europe richer and better connected, and it does the same for each participating country individually, as the people involved take home valuable knowledge, skills, and experiences, Orav stresses.

Since its establishment, more than nine million people have participated in Erasmus. More than 4.4 million student exchanges have been organised and more than 100,000 people have volunteered throughout Europe thanks to this programme.

The Erasmus programme is one of the best programmes the European Union has ever offered, concludes Orav.

Erasmus+ is the successor programme to four EU programmes in which Montenegro participated in the period 2007–2013: Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, the Lifelong Learning Programme and the Youth in Action programme.