Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation published

Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation published

On 31 January 2018, Commission published the mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme, which gives as an overall very positive view on the EU’s flagship programme for education, training, youth and sport for 2014-2020. The programme has been highly beneficial to its participants, not only as facilitating their employment, but also as promoting the feeling of being an EU citizen. Furthermore, Erasmus+ is more coherent, relevant and partly more efficient and simpler than its predecessors. According to the evaluation, Erasmus+ has achieved or exceeded most of the indicators, which were set in the legal basis. It also mentions that demand for funding exceeds the current budget and that the evaluation confirms that the programme has “capacity to absorb an overall budget increase in the next Multiannual Financial Framework”.

However, the evaluation also found some room for improvement, one being the need to do more to reach out to the more vulnerable in society and to facilitate the participation of smaller organisations. It also points out the need to reduce the recommended priorities and better focus on certain areas, as well as highlighting that the future programme should continue to implement the EU’s political priorities while keeping certain flexibility. It is also mentioned that the future programme should reduce administrative burden by simplifying application and reporting procedures, thus improving the efficiency of the new programme.

Sport as first time part of the current programme.

The evaluation highlights that sport is a recent programme and for instance, systemic impact of sport actions cannot be evaluated yet. The evaluation states that coherence can be improved in relation to sport and that the Commission will increase the focus especially on social inclusion in sport, and reduce overlap with youth activities. It is also mentioned in the evaluation that the “sport organisations take part in other sectors of the programme even more than in their own strand of Erasmus+”. EOC EU Office finds this statement surprising and wonders if the evaluation has defined as sport organisations also organisations outside of organised sport.

The evaluation also mentions that the Erasmus+ sport programme has an internationalisation effect especially concerning grassroots sport, where sport organisations have less international opportunities compared to elite and competitive sport, which are by nature international. According to the evaluation, the programme has not yet reached its potential in the internationalisation of grassroots sport and some alignment of sport actions with EU policies is needed in future. Some respondents at national level felt that it is sometimes difficult to fit the objectives of the programme, which are in line with the EU policies, to the local perspectives.

Regarding the beneficiaries of the sport part, the evaluation mentions that education institutions are successfully applying sport projects with education and youth links. Consequently, this reduces the participation of pure sport organisations in the sport activities.

Overall, the evaluation gives some good recommendations regarding the future funding programme. However, it is also important that some of the aspects that the evaluation proposes are clarified. EOC EU Office will have post-2020 programmes, and especially the future sport programme, as a priority area for its work in 2018, and it will closely follow and influence the processes.

Recent Posts

European Commission’s 7th Expert Group meeting on Covid-19 Sport recovery addresses impact of pandemic on sport and challenges ahead

On 23 March, the European Commission hosted the 7th meeting of the Expert Group on Covid-19 Sport recovery. The meeting gathered representatives of Member States and sports organisations who discussed the multifaceted long-term impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on sport. First, Floor Van Houdt, Head of the Sport Unit of the European Commission informed the […]

Read More
Sport organisations, Member States and European Commission gather for the 8th Expert Group on Green Sport

On 24 March, the 8th Meeting of the European Commission Expert Group on Green Sport took place in Brussels and online. The main aim of the meeting, which brought together Member States and sport organisations’ experts, was to review the structure of the forthcoming Expert Group Recommendations on a Framework for Sustainable Sport in Europe […]

Read More
European Commission launches #BeActive Awards 2023 competition

On 16 March, the European Commission opened the submission for the #BeActive Awards 2023. The #BeActive Awards 2023 are designed to celebrate organisations and projects that have thrivingly promoted sport and physical activity throughout Europe. The #BeActive Awards 2023  includes four categories: Across Generations award: this award, first launched in 2022, is intended to honour […]

Read More

Related Posts

March 27, 2023
European Commission’s 7th Expert Group meeting on Covid-19 Sport recovery addresses impact of pandemic on sport and challenges ahead

On 23 March, the European Commission hosted the 7th meeting of the Expert Group on Covid-19 Sport recovery. The meeting gathered representatives of Member States and sports organisations who discussed the multifaceted long-term impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on sport. First, Floor Van Houdt, Head of the Sport Unit of the European Commission informed the […]

March 27, 2023
Sport organisations, Member States and European Commission gather for the 8th Expert Group on Green Sport

On 24 March, the 8th Meeting of the European Commission Expert Group on Green Sport took place in Brussels and online. The main aim of the meeting, which brought together Member States and sport organisations’ experts, was to review the structure of the forthcoming Expert Group Recommendations on a Framework for Sustainable Sport in Europe […]

March 17, 2023
European Commission launches #BeActive Awards 2023 competition

On 16 March, the European Commission opened the submission for the #BeActive Awards 2023. The #BeActive Awards 2023 are designed to celebrate organisations and projects that have thrivingly promoted sport and physical activity throughout Europe. The #BeActive Awards 2023  includes four categories: Across Generations award: this award, first launched in 2022, is intended to honour […]

About us

The EOC EU Office is the House of European Sport, representing the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the IOC and other major sport organisations to the European institutions in Brussels.
CONTACT
crossmenu linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram