25 years of Erasmus, with a view to the future "Erasmus is more important than ever in times of economic hardship and high youth unemployment: the skills and international experience gained by Erasmus students make them more employable and more likely to be mobile on the labour market", said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, during the presentation of the figures on the 25 years of activity of the Community program and of Erasmus+, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, due for launch in January 2014. Nearly 205 000 students, opted to attend courses in universities or other higher education institution abroad, as part of their degree programme, more than 3 million students have benefitted from EU Erasmus grants bringing to 3 million the overall figures since the creation of Erasmus in 1987. In addition to university courses (usually a six-months period covered by an average monthly Erasmus grant of 252 topped up in some countries by national, regional or institutional funds) Erasmus also provides support to teach and train abroad for students (50thousand last year) and teachers (over 46 thousand). Among the countries participating in Erasmus, the three most popular destinations for students in 2011-2012 were Spain, France and Germany. Spain also sent the largest number of students abroad. Vassiliou added: "Looking to the future, I’m delighted that our new Erasmus+ programme will enable 4 million young people to study, train, teach or volunteer abroad in the next seven years", thanks to funding provided for the in the Multiannual Financial Framework of the European Union. Another step towards banking union "We have seen how bank crises can quickly spread across borders, sending confidence into a downward spiral throughout the euro area. We have also have seen how the collapse of a major cross-border bank can lead to a complex situation. We need a system which can deliver decisions quickly and efficiently", "with rules that create certainty in the market", said Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier who on July 10 presented the Commission’s proposal aimed at creating a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), which, once operational in late 2014, will see the European Central Bank (ECB) "directly supervise banks in the euro area and in other Member States which decide to join the Banking Union". The complex Mechanism, which provides a new role to ECB and central national banks, consists in a single supervisory, bank recovery (through the banks’ own fund) and resolution system, with minimal costs to taxpayers and the real economy. Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: "With this proposal, all the elements are on the table for a banking union to put the sector on a sounder footing, restore confidence and overcome fragmentation in financial markets". The Portuguese leader added: "We have already agreed common European supervision for banks in the euro area and other Member States who wish to take part. Today’s proposal complements that with a strong and integrated single system for dealing with failing banks".Social exclusion, young people are the category at risk It is widely acknowledged that social exclusion causes serious, long-term damage, affecting the living conditions and the state of health of young people as well as their active participation in the economy. A report by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission (Eurydice Unit) addressed these issues focusing on youth exclusion. "Almost one out of three young persons between the ages of 18 and 24 is at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the European Union", states the Report, while a significant proportion of the youth population is living in marginalised and deprived conditions, which hinder them from exercising their fundamental rights". The major causes of social exclusion are rooted within social disparities, such as obstacles in the access to education and quality formation, although gender discrimination is what most influences the health and the emotional wellbeing of young people.
