On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission and executive agencies

PA_NonLegDec

OPINION

The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1. Notes that, in 2023, the Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) launched the midterm review process and published the corresponding report for the European Education Area (EEA) and launched the midterm evaluations for Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and Creative Europe for the 2021-2027 programing period; welcomes the work done to ensure the legacy of the European Year of Youth;

2. Welcomes the frontloading of EUR 100 million from the 2027 budget of Erasmus+ to the 2023 budget of Erasmus+, which enabled continued support to pupils, students, teachers and qualified staff fleeing from Ukraine, and the extra EUR 20 million awarded to Erasmus+ in 2023 as a result of Parliament’s insistence;

3. Welcomes the fact that the Commission has adapted the grant amounts for individual support for learning mobility under Erasmus+ by 12,27 % in 2023 in order to mitigate the effects of inflation and the fact that similar adjustments have been made for the European Solidarity Corps;

4. Welcomes the award of the Seal of Excellence, piloted in 2023, with the purpose of building synergies with other Union investment programmes, like the European Social Fund Plus, Horizon Europe and Digital Europe, with nine European Universities Alliances receiving a Seal of Excellence certificate;

5. Notes that, after two years of frontloading of the Creative Europe budget to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme’s budget has returned to the regular profile of slow but steady growth until the end of the programming period; welcomes the reinforcement of its 2023 budget by EUR 7,5 million;

6. Encourages DG EAC to complete the update of its Anti-Fraud Action Strategy and Action Plan speedily and ensure the implementation of the current Anti-Fraud Strategy, in particular the centralisation of the procedure to exclude organisations that fall under exclusion criteria;

7. Is pleased that the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) implemented the first Intra-Africa Academic Mobility V call of the current MFF with a total of 127 applications submitted, underscoring the interest of the African academic community;

8. Notes with concern the persisting challenges in 2023 with the e-Grant tools for beneficiaries of calls managed by the EACEA; strongly urges the Commission and EACEA to closely follow up on the mitigation measures put in place to ensure a smooth grant preparation and the validation of new beneficiaries.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for the opinion declares that she received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the draft opinion:

Entity and/or person

Agence Erasmus+ France Jeunesse & Sport (Agence du Service Civique)

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for the opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for the opinion declares that she has submitted to the concerned natural persons the European Parliament's Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.