by Sebastien GOULARD
On October 16, Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, together with Dubravka Šuica, European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, announced that they are considering the integration of several states from the southern shores of the Mediterranean into the European Erasmus+ program, in order to promote university exchanges between the European Union, North Africa, and the Middle East. While this announcement has attracted significant attention, it signals a broader reflection on strengthening relations between Europe and states on the southern Mediterranean shores through a new Mediterranean Pact that would address shared challenges on both sides of the Mediterranean. Education and innovation are two key priorities of this new Pact.
The New Mediterranean Pact
The war in Ukraine has heightened Europe’s awareness of the need to strengthen cooperation with its neighbors. While one of the main priorities remains integration with the Western Balkans, the Caucasus, and of course Moldova and Ukraine, Brussels has not overlooked the Mediterranean region. This region faces multiple crises, whether in Libya, Israel, or Syria, and the European Union must be more active on the ground to propose solutions and encourage dialogue. Furthermore, in order to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, the EU is seeking new suppliers such as Algeria. Strengthening relations with Mediterranean countries also aims to better control migration flows from Africa and the Middle East.
Finally, the conflict in Ukraine has shown that Russia seeks to increase its influence in Africa and Mediterranean countries, making it necessary for the European Union to provide an alternative to Russian support in order to maintain strategic ties with the southern Mediterranean states.
The Pact proposed last October, which still needs approval from EU member states, rests on three pillars to develop this new partnership. The first aims to enhance people-to-people exchanges in education and sports. The second focuses on developing trade exchanges, particularly through SMEs and startups on both sides of the Mediterranean, with particular attention to the sectors of new technologies and clean energy. The final pillar concerns security, counter-terrorism, and natural disaster management.
An Expanded Erasmus?
During the announcement, the possibility of opening the Erasmus program to North African and Middle Eastern countries was mentioned. This proposal has been widely discussed across the political spectrum due to its highly symbolic nature.
The Erasmus program is one of the European Union’s most tangible successes; almost every European knows someone who has studied for a few months at a university in another European country. These academic exchanges have changed the lives of many Europeans. There is even talk of “Erasmus babies,” referring to the millions of children born to couples who met while studying abroad. Since 1987, Erasmus has contributed to strengthening a sense of European identity and has become an integral part of European “pop culture,” as seen in films like Cédric Klapisch’s L’Auberge Espagnole (2002).
Although initially reserved for students, the program was opened to other socio-professional categories, such as apprentices in 1995, and later to professionals, including civil servants, when it became Erasmus+ in 2014.
The idea of opening Erasmus to non-EU countries is not new. Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland, all members of the European Economic Area, participate in the program, as do Turkey and several Western Balkan states. There is also the Erasmus Mundus program, which, as the name suggests, is open worldwide but is limited to prestigious courses.
The announcement by the European Commissioner has faced criticism, particularly from the political right, as it could encourage immigration to the EU. For instance, in France, students from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa are among the most likely to remain after completing their studies, with 61% of Algerian students staying. Opening Erasmus to North Africa could facilitate this trend, according to some political leaders.
Another criticism is that this expansion toward Mediterranean countries is imbalanced, favoring exchanges primarily in one direction—from southern Mediterranean countries to the European Union. Indeed, some non-European countries that might join Erasmus are officially discouraged by several EU member states’ foreign ministries. For example, in the case of Libya, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel, the German government urges its citizens to leave, and France has placed the country on its red list. It is therefore unlikely that European students would study in Libya. The same applies to Syria.
However, the cooperation envisioned under the first pillar of the Mediterranean Pact goes beyond the Erasmus program. In Libya and Syria, the higher education sector has been severely affected by conflicts. While it is not currently feasible for European students to study there, there is a strategic need to develop research programs between European and local institutions for future cooperation, thereby fostering innovation on both sides of the Mediterranean. This is also an opportunity for the EU to assert its leadership and promote its model in the face of competitors like Russia, especially among the youth of the southern Mediterranean.
While the European Commission’s mention of expanding the iconic Erasmus program to southern Mediterranean countries may have been somewhat clumsy, developing academic cooperation between the EU and Mediterranean countries remains a priority for the EU’s neighborhood policy and its soft power in North Africa and the Middle East.
