Activities of Massimiliano SMERIGLIO related to 2021/2009(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Inclusion measures within Erasmus+ 2014-2020 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of inclusion measures within Erasmus+ 2014-2020
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the implementation of inclusion measures within Erasmus+ 2014-2020
Amendments (36)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the need to ensure that inclusion and, diversity, equal opportunities and access are at the core of the implementation of Erasmus+, one of the EU’s most successful programmes so far; regrets the differentat only 17% of the overall numbers of learners reached by the Programme in 2014-2020 were learners with special needs and/or fewer opportunities1a; highlights the need to further broaden the definitions and categoriesinterpretation of learners with special needs and/or fewer opportunities1 across Member States and the lack2a, adding an additional focus on age; stresses the difficulties in accessing to and monitoring of reliable data onregarding the profiles of the beneficiaries; reached by the Programme; therefore, believes that an instrument should be developed to monitor whether and how participants from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are being reached by the programme; _________________ 1 Term used in Article 23(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 on Erasmus+. a Inclusion measures within Erasmus+ programme 2014-2020, European Implementation Assessment 2a Erasmus+ Inclusion and Diversity Strategy in the field of Youth, European Commission, 2014
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights that Erasmus+ should support stakeholders’ and programme participants’ internationalisation plans that remove physical, psychological, social, socioeconomic, linguistic and other types of barriers to learning mobility and that offer qualitative support, including reinforced mentoringship, for participants from underrepresented groups and/or with specific needs before, during and after a period abroad;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
— having regard to the Interinstitutional Proclamation on the European Pillar of Social Rights, 13 December 2017, (2017/C 428/09),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 b (new)
Citation 5 b (new)
— having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan’, 4 March 2021, COM(2021)102,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Draws attention to the under- resourcing and understaffing of Erasmus+ national agencies and national authorities and the insufficient efforts to reduce administrative barriers to mobility and ensure that diversity and inclusion are at the core of the programme;; underlines that national agencies have a crucial role in ensuring that projects are as inclusive and diverse as possible; therefore, believes that all national agencies should appoint an inclusion and diversity officer to reach out to learners with special needs and/or fewer opportunities and increase their levels of information and awareness about the opportunities in place and how access them as well as to provide them with advice regarding possible difficulties they may experience during their Erasmus+ programme, such as delayed reimbursements2 or any obstacles caused by external and contingency factors such as the COVID-19 crisis3 ; stresses that a supportive approach to beneficiaries with special needs and/or fewer opportunities is key to help removing barriers preventing their full participation to the Programme; _________________ 2 As seen from Petition 2466/13. 3 As seen from Petition 0125/21.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 c (new)
Citation 5 c (new)
— having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘Union of Equality: Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030’, 3 March 2021, COM(2021)101,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 d (new)
Citation 5 d (new)
— having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘A union of equality: EU anti- racism action plan 2020-2025’, 18 September 2020, COM(2020)565,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 e (new)
Citation 5 e (new)
— having regard to the Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, 25 September 2015, A/RES/70/1,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas providing equal opportunities for all is, especially in the field of education and training, and must continue to be, inherent to the fundamental values of the European Union, and whereas people from all backgrounds and walks of life should be able to benefit from Erasmus+;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that Erasmus+ should encourage stakeholders to share their expertise at an institutional level, learn from each other, build administrative capacity andin view of fostering inclusion and diversity; welcomes, in this sense, specific efforts to support cooperation between different stakeholders and to develop and implement inclusive policies that seek to integrate children and young people from migrant backgrounds into education; considers, however, that these efforts should be expanded in the field of higher education;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas providing equal opportunities for all is, and must continue to be, inherent to the fundamental values of the European Union, and whereas people from all backgrounds and walks of life should be able to benefit fully and equally from Erasmus+;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas the effects of the COVID- 19 pandemic severely impacted on the education sector as a whole, further exacerbating pre-existing inequalities in access to education and making effective inclusion measures even more relevant and urgent;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas a high-level of ambitions for the future of education are well captured by the UN SDGs, in particular by Target 5, under Goal 4, which aims at eliminating all discriminations and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas no harmonised and mandatory inclusion strategy was established at European level for the Erasmus+ programme and these shortcomings significantly limit the impact of inclusion measures within the programme;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas physical mobility enables immersion in, and optimum interaction with, other cultures, and whereas virtual exchanges and learning are a valuableshould only be envisaged as complementary to physical mobility, butecause do not provide the same experience;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to develop an integrated and coherent approach to inclusion within the different EU programmes for youth and education, including European Solidarity Corps and ESF+; welcomes the Commission’s proposal for the 2022 as European Year of Youth and considers this proposal as an opportunity to develop such integrated approach; calls on the Commission to look closely at the possibility of combining the Erasmus+ and Interrail programmes5 , and thus foster more equality and inclusion; _________________ 5 As called for in Petition 0681/2021.
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the experience of mobility offered by Erasmus+ can be a transformative experience for participants, and can positively influence their self- confidence, openness, critical thinking, personal and professional development, employability and well-being;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. CStresses that national policy- making regarding learners with special needs and/or fewer opportunities should be further stimulated; calls on the Member States to launch and support Erasmus+ projects to attract participants with disabilities and learners from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to their countries;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to properly address the lack of familiarity with the Erasmus+ programme, information barriers, obstacles to the application process, adequate support services abroad and the challenges relating to the portability of grants faced by persons with disabilities and other participants from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including ethnic groups;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes, in this regard, the Commission’s approach to promotingrecent adoption by the Commission of the framework to increase diversity and inclusionveness in the current Erasmus+ programme. as well as in the current European Solidarity Corps; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the future implementation of this framework at national level;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 10 – subparagraph 1 (new)
12. Underlines that, despite the fact that Erasmus+ 2014-2020 has been evaluated as more coherent, effective and more aligned with emerging needs, there is still a strong need to make the Programme more inclusive, able to reach out to more vulnerable and disadvantaged people and to facilitate the participation of smaller- size organizations;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the crucial need for adapted funding and grants, such as pre- financing and lump sums, as financial barriers continue to be one of the biggest obstacles faced by people with fewer opportunities in Erasmus+; in this regard, stresses the need to apply flexible rules in the support of additional expenses for participants with fewer opportunities or from disadvantaged backgrounds and to provide sufficient financial amount to cover their needs;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Urges the Commission to make sure that existing digital tools are working properly and at full extent and to tackle without delay the serious persistent issues related to Erasmus+ IT tools, which significantly hamper not only the participation of smaller organisations and people with fewer opportunities, but also the participation of all kinds of beneficiaries; with regard to the newly introduced IT tools, which should make the whole experience of mobility smoother, calls on the Commission to sufficiently test them on a large scale before their implementation;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges the role of teachers, youth workers and staffassociations as the driving forces behind participating institutions in raising awareness of the programme, in informing and supporting future learners, and identifying people with fewer opportunities, and notes that without them, most participants with fewer opportunities would not be able to take part; calls on the Commission, the Member States and national agencies to value and acknowledge their often voluntary work, to support them by facilitating their own mobility and to provide them with adequate funding, while accompanying participants with fewer opportunities and offering them specific training adapted to their needs;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses that the presence of women in the last programme period of the Erasmus continues to be higher; welcomes the development of Erasmus projects related to and focused on improving gender equality and the inclusion of women in all sectors of education, especially in STEAM disciplines; calls on the European Commission and Member States to continue to support and develop measures, projects and actions that take advantage of the high presence of women in the programme to give visibility to gender equality;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Stresses the importance of the Erasmus+ programme in promoting the values of tolerance, respect for cultural, sexual, social, religious and ethnic diversity; welcomes the projects that promote and raise awareness of sexual diversity and encourage respect for LGBTIQ+ collective; calls on the Commission to improve synergies and create real links between the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy and the Erasmus+ programme;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the need for the Commission, the Member States and national agencies to provide better support for grassroots organisations, including smaller ones, in all areas, particularly in the outermost regions and rural areas, and to ensure that resources and projects are distributed fairly in each Member State;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Asks all national agencies to organise targeted information campaigns, both online and offline, and to appoint dedicated inclusion and diversity officers in order to reach out directly to learners with special needs and/or fewer opportunities; in this regard, calls also on those organisations that were selected to implement Erasmus+ actions to designate dedicated contact persons for people with fewer opportunities to be informed and accompanied as needed; and recalls that information on support services for people with special needs must be clear, up-to- date, complete and easy to access;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Regrets the lack of reliable data on the participation of people with fewer opportunities in the Erasmus+ programme; in this regard, highlights a dearth of qualitative data on criteria such as participants’ social and ethnic background, as well as gender, that could help to shed further light as to which groups inclusion measures should target; underlines the need to gather and monitor a critical mass of reliable data in order to create a management and steering tool for inclusion measures, using methods which respect privacy and the protection of personal data and do not add undue administrative burdens for organisations and participants;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Acknowledges that for participants with fewer opportunities language barrier turns out to be particularly severe, therefore calls for targeted and group specific support for language learning in preparation of mobility and insists that this support should not be limited to online courses;
Amendment 107 #
14. Requests the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all relevant information regarding Erasmus+ is accessible to persons with disabilities, in particular through adapted and barrier-free online tools; recalls that planning and evaluation processes should be barrier- free; welcomes the establishment of ‘Erasmus Days’ and stresses the importance of the role of former Erasmus+ participants and alumni networks in promoting the programme widely;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the European Year of Youth and related events to promote the opportunitiesWith the aim of ensuring that the European Year of Youth is impactful and effectively improves living and learning conditions and democratic participation of young people in Europe, calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the Year and related events to better inform all young people about opportunities made available to them in application of public policies at EU, national, regional and local levels, including those offered by the Erasmus+ programme;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Recalls the importance of ensuring automatic recognition of qualification’s and learning periods in the context of the European Education Area as a complementary and paramount tool to make inclusion measures within Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps fully effective;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the Commission’s recent adoption of the 2021-2027 framework of measures aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion in the current Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes, but nevertheless calls on the Commission to closely monitor the future national implementation of this framework and to inform the Parliament on annual basis; highlights that the full implementation of a dedicated framework of inclusion measures can serve as a useful experience and reference for other EU programmes that have a direct impact on citizens’ life such as Creative Europe and CERV;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Calls for an increase of the 2023 budget to be dedicated to the full implementation of inclusion measures in Erasmus + and the European Solidarity Corps and, in particular, to test the effect of pre-financing, lump sums and higher support grants on the participation rate of people with fewer opportunities or from disadvantaged backgrounds;