유럽연합(EU) 대학 간 교류협력 활성화를 위한 에라스무스 프로그램의 평가와 과제: 스페인 사례를 중심으로

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has been striving to achieve institutional integration in politics, economy, and society. Among them, integration in the field of education system has been implemented with the goal of fostering the EU citizens to become the leaders of future society. Accordingly, the EU has attempted various educational programmes for the integration of education system, and the Erasmus Programme is the most representative and successful programme. The Erasmus Programme began in 1981 as an exchange student programme between universities within the EU, and from 2014, it was renamed and developed to Erasmus Plus+. As such, the Erasmus Programme, which has a history of about 40 years, has attracted more than 10 million people so far, and had a profound impact on the development and integration of the European higher education system. Among the countries participating in the Erasmus Programme, Spain has recorded the highest preference for Erasmus Programme participants in terms of geography, language, and culture. In addition, Spain is actively using the Erasmus Programme with providing internship opportunities and professional experience by linking with their education programme named SICUE (Sistema de Intercambio entre Centros Universitarios de España). In this regards, the paper examines the characteristics and historical development of the Erasmus Programme and also analyzes the case of Spain, called the largest beneficiary of the Erasmus Programme in Europe. Finally, the paper examines the major problems of the Erasmus Programme and deals with the EU policies to support the Erasmus Programme after the COVID-19 pandemic.