Lifelong Learning Programme

EU funding for Teaching and Learning (Primary, Secondary, Third, Forth and Vocational)

This programme enables individuals at all stages of their lives to pursue stimulating learning opportunities across Europe.

There are four sub-programmes focusing on different stages of education and training and continuing previous programmes:

• Comenius for schools
• Erasmus for higher education
• Leonardo da Vinci for vocational education and training
• Grundtvig for adult education

A transversal programme aims to ensure that they achieve the best results possible. Four key activities focus on policy co-operation, languages, information and communication technologies, effective dissemination and exploitation of project results.

The Jean Monnet programme stimulates teaching, reflection and debate on the European integration process at higher education institutions worldwide.

The European Commission implements a number of international co-operation programmes in higher education the fields of education and training:

• Erasmus Mundus is a co-operation and mobility programme in the field of higher education which promotes the EU as a centre of excellence in learning around the world and supports top-quality European master’s courses. The external cooperation window promotes partnerships between EU and third countries’ universities to develop Erasmus like student and scholar mobility.
  • European joint masters and doctoral programmes (including scholarships): Action 1
  • Partnerships with non-European higher education institutions and scholarships for mobility of students and academics: Action 2
  • Projects to promote European higher education systems worldwide: Action 3
• Co-operation with industrialised countries enhances the quality of higher education and vocational education and training and promotes intercultural understanding, mainly through joint study programmes.
• Jean Monnet promotes the teaching of and research into European integration as a subject at universities.
• Tempus (The Trans-European mobility scheme for university studies) contributes to building an area of co-operation in the field of higher education involving the EU and partner countries in the surrounding area.
• Edulink fosters capacity building and regional integration in higher education in ACP States and Regions (Africa Caraibe Pacific), and promotes higher education as a means of reducing poverty
• Alfa is co-operation programme between higher education institutions of the European Union and Latin America.