On 14 April 2026, ArossEU joined the European Universities Alliances Retreat, a full-day strategic gathering bringing together alliances from across Europe and representatives from the European Commission to shape the future of the initiative beyond 2027.
Four break-out sessions took place, each addressing a question that will define the next programming period:
- The first focused on the funding model for Erasmus+ 2028–2034: how to move beyond a system tied purely to the number of partners towards one that rewards genuine institutional transformation, with a stable baseline complemented by performance-driven elements.
- The second tackled mobility, one of the initiative’s most visible and most debated dimensions, exploring what a shared definition should look like and how targets should evolve to reflect the real depth of cross-border learning, not just its volume.
- The third session examined the international dimension of alliances: how far partnerships should extend geographically, what role enlargement countries and global partners could play, and how to keep cooperation purposeful and coherent.
- The afternoon turned to the broader policy context, the Competitiveness Compass, the Union of Skills, and how alliances can contribute meaningfully to Europe’s skills and talent needs across all fields.
Alliances and Seals of Excellence exchanged on the experience of building real shared structures across partner universities (curriculum development, quality assurance, joint programmes, institutional governance, long-term sustainability, strengthening institutional cooperation, fostering innovation in education, and enhancing mobility opportunities for students and staff) in order to shape the conditions for European higher education cooperation for the next Erasmus+ funding period 2028–2034 in dialogue with the European Commission. This retreat and exchanges with members of the Euroean Commission were essential to ensuring that alliances not only meet current expectations but also contribute actively to building a long-term vision for European higher education.
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