In its Europe 2020 Communication the European Commission outlines a strategy for “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. Europe, in deep economic and in many respects existential crisis, urgently needs to work towards these goals, if social cohesion, peace and prosperity shall be maintained and widened. It is necessary that all actors of civil society contribute to achieving those in primarily economy focused objectives. It is also obvious that resources are limited and more so in recessionary times, those resources have to be employed as efficiently as possible.
European policy makers have been
promoting intra-European mobility on basically all levels for the past decades.
In 2012, the European Commission´s arguably most well-known and successful
programme, the Erasmus mobility scheme promoting student mobility, marks its 25th
birthday. Initially, fostering European citizenship and creating a feeling of
European identity were the main motives for setting up the scheme. Those
motives are still the main appeal of mobility programmes and lead to the
overall positive attitude of policy makers and society at large. Most actors
additionally acknowledge the long-term economic benefits of creating are more
united and stronger Europe. However, student mobility helps to achieve some of
the core goals of Europe 2020 in a much less illusive and more tangible way.
One of seven flagship initiatives
outlined in Europe 2020 is Youth on the
move. It´s main objective is
“To
enhance the performance of education systems and to facilitate the entry of
young people to the labour market”.
In particular the initiative aims
at “combining both excellence and equity,
by promoting student mobility and trainees' mobility”. This acknowledges
that student mobility contributes directly to enhancing the quality of
education. The studies of the Erasmus Student Network are continuously showing
the beneficial effects of studies or traineeships abroad (cf. ESNSurvey 2010).
Many labour market relevant skills such as foreign languages, working in
intercultural teams, communication and networking are improved during the
period abroad (cf. ESNSurvey 2011 and Alfranseder, 2012). Mobility grants
help address the equity issue although additional support is needed to enable
everyone a mobility period independent of their social background.
The second flagship project
mobility directly contributes to, is an
agenda for new skills and jobs. Its key goal is
“To modernise labour markets and empower
people by developing their skills throughout the lifecycle with a view to
increase labour participation and better match labour supply and demand,
including through labour mobility.”
As previously elaborated,
mobility contributes to the development of crucial labour market skills. In
addition, results show that people who have lived or studied abroad or have the
intention to do so, tend to be more willing to move abroad for work (cf. ESNSurvey 2011). Also Zaiceva and Zimmermann (2008) report that having lived abroad before significantly increases the inclination to move in
the future. Those findings suggest that promoting mobility from an early age
can contribute to both enhancing student mobility and subsequent labour
mobility.
Mobility helps to directly address
those two key goals of Europe 2020, but also helps to progress other flagship
initiatives. Mobility can certainly contribute to the targeted Innovation Union via the exchange of
ideas and personal development of individuals. Building a Resource efficient Europe might be less obviously connected to
mobility. However, research shows that environmental behaviour varies greatly
across countries and the abroad experience can familiarise individuals with
more environmentally friendly practices which can initiate improvements back
home (cf. ESNSurvey 2011). An industrial
policy for the globalisation era will surely require more culturally aware
and internationally experienced individuals to improve the business environment
for SMEs.
The proposed 70% increase for
education in the new financial framework of the European Union is going into
the right direction. Investment in education in general and strong support for
mobility in particular, is indispensable for achieving the goals outlined in
Europe 2020. Not all states are pursuing the same policies at the national
level owing to looming austerity. However, the national education policies are
far more important and therefore spending in education should have absolute
priority in national budgets. Supporting mobility should be an integral part of
national and international education policies.
Sources:
Alfranseder, Emanuel, Julia Fellinger & Marge Tavaire, 2011. E-Value-ate Your Exchange: Research
Report of the ESNSurvey 2010, Erasmus Student Network AISBL, Brussels.
Alfranseder, Emanuel, Jesús Escrivá, Julia Fellinger, Aimee Haley, Asror Nigmonov & Marge Taivere, 2012. Exchange, Employment and Added Value: Research Report of the ESNSurvey 2011, Erasmus Student Network AISBL, Brussels.
Alfranseder, Emanuel, Jesús Escrivá, Julia Fellinger, Aimee Haley, Asror Nigmonov & Marge Taivere, 2012. Exchange, Employment and Added Value: Research Report of the ESNSurvey 2011, Erasmus Student Network AISBL, Brussels.
Zaiceva, Anzelika & Klaus. F. Zimmermann, 2008. Scale, diversity, and determinants of
labour migration in Europe, Oxford Review of Economic Policy 24(3), 427-451.
