Using Global Mobility Strategically

The funding mechanisms

The international dimension of the Erasmus+ programme is funded by a combination of internal (KA131) and external (KA171) funding instruments provided by the EU Commission. With a range of funded mobility types that have been adapted to those of intra-European mobilities, Key Action 171 is backed by two different external financial instruments:

• the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) for the Western Balkans. The aim is to promote political and economic reforms in the region to align its values and regulations to those of the EU, not least with a view to preparing some countries for EU accession.
• the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). This is the most important funding instrument for the EU’s external actions, with a total budget of 79.5 billion euros for the 2021–2027 period.

The available budget is distributed among 12 different regions, with the amounts of the individual allocations varying. The EU has also assigned particularly large amounts to some priority regions, namely the Western Balkans, Sub-Saharan Africa, Neighbourhood East and South-Mediterranean Countries.

German universities continue to be very active

Announced for the second time in this programme generation in 2023, Key Action 171 is enjoying increased demand again at German universities. While 114 applications with a budget totalling some 28 million euros were approved in 2022, 127 applications with a budget of around 31 million euros have been approved in 2023. Requests for over 100 million euros, around three times the available budget, were submitted in the two application years (see diagram). After initial reluctance, universities are also making increased use of the opportunities offered by the «KA131 International» programme in which only outgoing students and university staff can receive funding for worldwide mobilities.

We know from German universities that the worldwide outgoing mobility programme is used in a variety of ways in traditional Erasmus projects. For example, universities are looking for ways to continue or maintain post-Brexit collaborations with the United Kingdom. KA171 International makes this option possible. Individual departments are also using the key action to develop collaborations with certain countries. For example, there are projects on wine culture in Georgia and on infectious diseases with universities in African countries.

National exchanges and international networks

At national level, the biannual meetings of the KA171 working group – most recently in August 2023 at the Europa-Universität Flensburg – are a good opportunity to network and discuss current operational topics relating to the implementation of mobility projects with partner countries. The working group was set up in 2015 to launch the new KA107 programme and is made up of project coordinators from various universities.

Internationally, the NA DAAD organised a Training and Cooperation Activity (TCA) in September 2023 in partnership with the National Agencies from Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and North Macedonia titled «A New Vision for European Cooperation». The event focused on forging links with the countries of Southeastern Europe and on developing collaborations. At the instigation of the NA, participation rules were extended so that colleagues from third countries not associated with the programme – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro – also took part in the TCA for the first time. 

The University of Regensburg, which was predestined to host the event thanks to its close and wide-ranging contacts with the Balkans, welcomed one hundred university representatives from Germany and various Balkan countries. The seminar enabled participants to network, get to know potential new partners, learn from each other and develop strategies to increase mobilities. One prime example of the added value of collaborations with the Balkans is Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG).

KA171 – Mobilities and Budget Western Balkans

Number of projects per country in Western Balkans region in 2022 and 2023

Ein zunehmender Fokus auf den Balkan

Bereits im Zuge der EU-Erweiterung 2004 gab die Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Ludwigshafen in engem Dialog mit den im Rhein-Neckar-Raum ansässigen großen und mittelständischen Unternehmen den Blick nach Osten vor. Die zahlreichen Hochschulkooperationen in Südosteuropa waren die Folge durchgängig positiver und verlässlicher Zusammenarbeit, eines erfolgreichen Austauschs auf wissenschaftlicher und studentischer Ebene und der Nachfrage von kooperierenden Unternehmen nach Absolvent*innen mit Ost- und Südosteuropa-Kompetenzen. 

Die 2015 – in der vorangegangenen Programmgeneration von Erasmus+ (2014–2020) – eingeführte Programmlinie KA107 («Mobilität mit Partnerländern», bekannt auch als International Credit Mobility, ICM) schaffte die Option, nun auch die Nicht-EU-Länder des Westlichen Balkans in das Programm zu integrieren, Mobilitäten zu fördern, bestehende Kooperationen zu intensivieren und neue Partner zu gewinnen. Ohne die Förderung durch Erasmus+ wäre für die meisten der Studierenden aus der Region des Westlichen Balkans ein Studienaufenthalt in Deutschland nicht finanzierbar (gewesen).