By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : The European Parliament adopted here Tuesday a report to help enhance the quality of university teaching and attract the best foreign students and academics from third countries to Europe .
The report on the EU’s scholarship programme known as Erasmus Mundus II (2009-2013) says “Europe’s higher education must be competitive to attract the many foreign university students and teachers who previously went to study in the United States.
‘The quality of higher education, its ability to disseminate knowledge and expertise, will make Europe a must, thanks to the centres of excellence to be developed through this programme,” said the rapporteur of the report, Marielle De Sarnez, from France.
The 950 million euro Erasmus Mundus II programme aims to promote EU as a centre of academic excellence. It seeks to attract the best-qualified students and academics from third countries by offering high-quality master’s or doctoral programmes created by consortia of universities from at least three different countries.
To facilitate exchanges within the programme, the report calls on EU member states to consider introducing a specific visa for Erasmus Mundus beneficiaries.
EU lawmakers also stress that third country students should be informed of their study destination at least 6 months before their departure, to give them time to obtain visas.
The second phase of Erasmus Mundus (2009-13) is expected to start in 2009. Its key new features are the inclusion of joint doctoral programmes, more scholarships for European students and stepping up structural cooperation with third-country higher education institutions.
In the Erasmus Mundus I programme, 4424 scholarships were granted from 2004-2008 to students from third countries and 323 universities took part, 265 of them in Europe.