Last month, the European Commission published its long awaited Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2019. The waiting has been particularly keen for all those planning to get involved in “Macron”. The programme shows the final decision on the name “European Universities” (not European Universities Alliances) and they have been brought together with the “Knowledge Alliances” under one part of the programme.
Most salient (but already leaked) details: the link with research is as weak as many feared (but consortia are invited to make it stronger) and the penalty for lack of (geographical) balance has increased to max. 15% of the score. No less than 60% of the budget may be used on ‘staff costs’, so the fear that a significant part of the money would have to be spent on student grants has also proved to be unfounded.
