As Switzerland moves toward Erasmus+, EU policymakers advance plans for the next education, research, and innovation programmes.
October started with a significant relief for the Swiss Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) communities: the Council of States – the 46-seat Chamber representing the Cantons at the Swiss Parliament – voted in favour of the Swiss contribution to Erasmus+ for 2027. This important milestone brings Swiss education, youth and sport actors one step closer to joining this EU flagship programme. The ball is now in the National Council’s court – the other 200-seat Chamber in Switzerland’s bicameral system, distributed in proportion to cantons’ population – which will vote on the Erasmus+ 2027 contribution in December. A positive vote would give the green light to Switzerland’s full participation in Erasmus+, long overdue since 2014.
While securing participation under the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is crucial for Swiss stakeholders, much of the attention in Brussels and across Europe has already turned to the next generation of programmes, and the European Parliament (EP) has made significant progress on that front. In fact, following the adoption of its final report on Erasmus+ 2028–2034 by the EP’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) on 29 September, the EP’s plenary adopted the report on 22 October 2026, with an outstanding majority (454 votes in favour, 34 against and 93 abstentions). In doing so, the EP established its negotiating mandate for the upcoming trilogue negotiations with the Commission and the Council. The next major step before entering formal negotiations will be for EU Member States to adopt their full negotiating mandate.
Beyond the political choices in Bern and Brussels, the importance of Erasmus+ was also particularly tangible among stakeholders in Brussels this month: “If you ask someone on the street anywhere in Europe what they know about the EU, they will tell you the euro and Erasmus.” These were the words of Luciana Vaccaro, President of swissuniversities, during the 10th Anniversary Celebration of UAS4EUROPE, a network representing over 150 Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). The event concluded a full day of fruitful meetings in Brussels (see SwissCore article), and was followed by a two-day symposium on the European Universities Initiative (EUI) that we co-organised (see SwissCore article).
On the research and innovation (R&I) front, the Parliament also made some progress, with an agreement at Shadow Rapporteur level on the next Horizon Europe Framework and Specific Programme for R&I (FP10). This marks an important milestone before the committee vote expected on 10 November.
The adoption of these two negotiation mandates brings the EP into the final phase of preparations for negotiations, where some elements of the programmes are likely to prove particularly contentious. While many important aspects remain to be discussed, one crucial matter will be the financial means available for the EU’s ERI programmes. Nonetheless, before agreeing on the distribution between different priorities at the EU level, EU policymakers must strike a deal on the financial envelope for the EU’s next long-term budget, the MFF 2028-2034. Four months after the proposal tabled by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Irish Presidency presented a revised EU budget on 10 October, again reducing the expenditure volume initially proposed by the Commission. The European Parliament’s lead co-rapporteurs on the next MFF firmly rejected this proposal, which does not improve the prospects of reaching an agreement by the end of the year. Nevertheless, the official objective remains to avoid delays to the implementation of the new MFF from 2028 onwards. This sets the stage for potentially significant concessions as the EU co-legislators seek to finalise the agreement.