Prompted by a common desire and the EU’s commitment to making transnational education a reality for all types of universities and all types of students, eight European university alliances – INGENIUM, EU-CONEXUS, UNITA, EURECA-PRO, RUN-EU, FORTHEM, ULYSSEUS, and YUFE – have submitted a joint document to the European Commission proposing the lifting of the 12-month limit for Erasmus+ KA131 mobility of students enrolled in accredited joint study programmes.
The position paper titled Unlocking Erasmus+ KA131 for Joint Programmes: The Case for Removing the 12-Month Mobility Limit, submitted to the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, argues for a targeted adaptation to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, i.e., an exception to the 12-month limit for students enrolled in accredited Joint Programmes, which would constitute a simple, cost-effective, and legally sound measure to make Joint Programmes more inclusive and sustainable.
Under the current Erasmus+ Programme Guide, KA131 long-term mobility is capped at 12 months per study cycle. This limit is designed for the general mobility framework, where students undertake exchange periods at a host institution before returning to complete their degree at home. For this purpose, the 12-month cap is appropriate and serves to distribute opportunities equitably. The signatory Alliances thus propose three specific, targeted modifications to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide to be included in the 2027 Erasmus+ Work Programme: an exception to the 12-month limit for accredited Joint Programmes, flexibility in the definition of the sending institution, and an optional budget ceiling for Joint Programme mobility.
The proposed amendments are also of particular importance to the development of YUFE’s Joint Bachelor, which is based on mandatory mobility between partner universities. Removing the restrictions would allow students to benefit from Erasmus+ mobility support throughout their studies, thus removing one of the key obstacles to the implementation of joint European study programmes. The signatory alliances point out that the proposed changes do not require amending the Erasmus+ Regulation or providing additional funding. The Erasmus+ Programme Guide is updated annually, so the proposed adjustments could already be included in the 2027 Erasmus+ Work Programme.
This initiative is largely driven by the European Degree policy agenda and the transformative role of the European Universities Initiative, with Joint Programmes being at the heart of the European Commission’s HE policy agenda. The proposed changes aim to ensure that funding rules follow the development of the European Higher Education Area and enable more students to participate in international study programmes.