3 million Erasmus students in Europe !!!

More than 3 million students have benefitted from EU Erasmus grants since the exchange scheme's launch in 1987. The statistics, covering the 2011-2012 academic year, also show that the programme enabled more than 250 000 Erasmus students – a new record – to spend part of their higher education studies abroad or to take up a job placement with a foreign company to boost their employability.

Erasmus is considered one of the most successful programmes of the European Commission!!!

The average monthly Erasmus grant, designed to cover part of the additional costs of living abroad and travel, was €252. The grant, which has remained stable for the past three years, is topped up in some countries by national, regional or institutional funds.

Erasmus+, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, due for launch in January 2014, will build on the legacy of Erasmus by offering opportunities for 4 million people to study, train, teach or volunteer abroad by 2020. The programme is expected to have a budget of around €14.5 billion for 2014-2020 - 40% more than funding for the current education and training mobility programmes.

There is also an ERASMUS programme for Enterprises.

Trivia: a student leaving on an Erasmus exchange has 15% chances to find its mate and form an "Erasmus couple"!

In Romania numarul de studenti care pleaca cu burse Erasmus a ramas relativ constant, 4568 pe an.

Studentii prefera sa plece in cele mai multe cazuri in Franta, Spania si Germania, si ne vin in general studenti francezi si spanioli. Mai multe statistici se gasesc in raportul Erasmus in Romania.

EU Prize for Literature 2012 - celebration of Europe's best emerging authors

The aim of the European Prize for Literature is to put the spotlight on the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature in the field of fiction, to promote the circulation of literature within Europe and encourage greater interest in non-national literary works.

The works of the selected winners (one per country participating in the prize on a rotation basis) will reach a wider and international audience, and touch readers beyond national and linguistic borders.

The prize (5.000 Euro for each winner) is financed by the Culture Programme of the European Union whose objective is to achieve three main goals: to promote cross-border mobility of those working in the cultural sector; to encourage the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic output; and to foster intercultural dialogue.

The competition is opened to all 37 countries involved in the EU Culture Programme run by EC - DG EAC. This year the selected countries are: Austria , Croatia , France , Hungary , Ireland , Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland , Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. So, 12 winners, Romania is not on the winners' list. Maybe next year...

The prizes were awarded in November 2012 in Brussels.

European piss...

Some time ago we have received instructions in the toilets on: "How to wash your European hands - Guide for Dummies..."

But the European functionaire requires more: so we have just received another Dummies Training directly in the toilets, because in the EC we all believe in BEST PRACTICES sharing!!!

You can see that the trainings are not always perfect...so, good thing we have our sense of humor ;)