Students in Luxembourg are calling for the protection of Erasmus+

As part of the negotiations on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028–2034, a significant reduction in budgets for education and science is under discussion. On 11 June 2026, the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU proposed cutting funding for programmes aimed at boosting competitiveness, including Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, by 3.9 per cent compared with the European Commission’s original proposal. As a result, the Erasmus+ budget could amount to €34.7 billion, which is significantly lower than the €47.39 billion requested by the European Parliament. The budget for the Horizon Europe research programme is set to be reduced to €148.579 billion, instead of the €177.01 billion proposed by the Parliament.

In response to these plans, the National Union of Students of Luxembourg (UNEL) and the organisation ‘Young European Federalists of Luxembourg’ (JEF Luxembourg) published a joint resolution criticising the initiative. The authors of the document refer to Mario Draghi’s report on the future of European competitiveness, according to which the Erasmus+ programme currently covers only 15 per cent of young people in the EU. According to the report’s estimates, funding would need to be increased fivefold to €131 billion in order to involve all young people. Nevertheless, a coalition of 17 European organisations in the fields of higher education and science has put forward a more modest demand: to set the Erasmus+ budget at a minimum of €60 billion.

Despite the official letters sent to Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Finance Minister Gilles Roth and other members of the Cabinet in June and August 2026, the Luxembourg Government has yet to make its position clear. In their resolution, youth organisations are calling on the country’s authorities to publicly reject the proposed cuts. Additional demands include bringing grants into line with the real cost of living, increasing funding for the AgoraEU youth programme to 12 billion euros, and the automatic mutual recognition of periods of study abroad in all Member States of the European Union.