Swiss students ask to rejoin Erasmus before 2021

Switzerland should be reintegrated into the Erasmus+ student exchange programme from the beginning of 2018, and not in 2021 as the government wants, says the Swiss Student Union.

On Monday a petition signed by 10,000 people was lodged with the federal government, demanding that Switzerland resume its negotiations with the EU on the subject so that Swiss students can be reintegrated in the programme by 2018 and to allocate sufficient financial resources to the scheme.

Meanwhile, the Swiss cabinet wants to extend an interim solution for international student exchanges by three years when it expires at the end of 2017. The interim solution for Erasmus became necessary after Brussels suspended negotiations with Switzerland in response to the approval by Swiss voters of a 2014 proposal to re-introduce immigration quotas for EU citizens. 

However, the organisations behind the petition complain that students lose out academically by not being a full member of Erasmus+. They say the ad hoc solution, known as the “Swiss European Mobility Programme” (SEMP), offers students less choice. 

As well as reducing Swiss students’ mobility and having an impact on their professional development, the interim solution is an administrative burden for Swiss universities and a hindrance for Swiss institutions in terms of international cooperation, the petitioners argue. 

Brussels is demanding Switzerland pay a higher contribution to the scheme’s budget than the alpine country has already approved for its interim solution. As a result, the Federal Council feels it is unrealistic for those negotiations to be concluded before 2018, reported news agency ATS. 

When Erasmus was launched in 1987, some 3,000 students from 11 countries took part. Five years later, Switzerland participated in Erasmus for the first time, with 350 students. In total, around 30,000 Swiss students have lived abroad under Erasmus with all the academic, career and personal development benefits entailed.