If you work in youth mobility, you already know the reality on the ground: demand is growing, inclusion needs more time and stronger support, but budgets and programme capacity often do not keep up. Many organisations are expected to reach more young people while working with limited resources, stretched teams, and rising quality expectations.
This is why a new set of amendments tabled in the European Parliament by Vice President Victor Negrescu and colleagues deserves serious attention. These proposals call for a much stronger EU investment in education, skills, and Erasmus+. For organisations working in youth exchanges, youth participation, and international mobility, this is not only a policy discussion — it is a very practical issue.
Why the MFF matters
The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is the EU’s long-term budget. It works as a seven-year financial plan that sets the main spending priorities and determines how much funding large EU programmes can receive. This includes programmes such as Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, and other education and social initiatives.
For the current period, 2021–2027, the total EU long-term budget is €1.211 trillion in current prices. This overall figure matters because it shapes what is realistically possible for future youth programmes. If youth work, learning mobility, and inclusion are meant to grow, they need to be backed by a stronger financial framework.
The 20% proposal: a major shift for education and skills
One of the key amendments proposes that at least 20% of the 2028–2034 EU budget should go to education, skills, and lifelong learning. This would represent a major political signal: education would no longer be treated as a secondary area, but as a core investment in Europe’s future.
To understand the scale, it helps to compare this idea with the current budget. If the next seven-year EU budget stayed at roughly the same size as the current one — €1.211 trillion — then 20% would equal around €242 billion for education and skills-related policies and programmes.
How this compares to the current framework
The same amendment refers to an EPRS analysis, based on European Commission data, which estimates that education and skills-related funding in the current MFF amounts to €148 billion, or around 12% of the total budget.
If that is used as a reference point, then moving from €148 billion to €242 billion would mean approximately €94 billion more for education and skills-related investment across EU programmes. That is not a symbolic increase. It would represent a real shift in what Europe could support over the next seven-year cycle.
A separate push: “Erasmus for all”
Another important amendment focuses directly on Erasmus+. It calls for an “Erasmus for all” approach through a five-fold increase in Erasmus+ funding for 2028–2034.
For the youth field, this is especially important. Youth exchanges, youth worker mobility, and participation activities are often the most accessible first international opportunities for young people. They are frequently the programmes that reach those who are farthest from mobility, formal education opportunities, or European participation.
Why bigger Erasmus+ matters for youth organisations
Scaling up Erasmus+ is not only about increasing participant numbers. It is also about making sure that organisations have the conditions to work well. Inclusion takes time. Preparation takes time. Safeguarding, mentoring, emotional support, and follow-up all require human and financial capacity.
Without stronger funding, the promise of “Erasmus for all” risks becoming a slogan rather than a realistic policy direction. If Europe truly wants broader access, then Erasmus+ Youth must be funded at a level that reflects the real needs of participants and the organisations supporting them.
Other points youth organisations should watch
The amendments also include several other elements that may be relevant for youth and mobility organisations. One of them is a push to ensure that education and health are more visible and better funded within national and regional partnership plans. This includes indicative benchmarks such as 10% for education and 15% for social objectives.
Another point concerns EU own resources, meaning new ways for the EU to raise money directly. One proposal mentions a harmonised levy on online gambling and betting services, with the idea that additional revenue could help finance European public goods, including education and skills. While this is still part of a wider political debate, it shows that the discussion is not only about priorities, but also about how to pay for them.
Why this aligns with the youth field
These proposals are very much in line with what many organisations in the youth field have already been saying. Across Europe, civil society actors have been arguing that inclusion and access cannot be expanded meaningfully without a larger overall programme budget.
One example is Beyond Barriers, which calls for the recognition of Highly Vulnerable Young People (HVYP) as a distinct group within Erasmus+ Youth. The idea behind this proposal is simple: if projects involve young people with higher support needs, then the programme must provide realistic conditions for quality, safeguarding, and inclusion.
The wider picture: volunteering and participation
A similar message appears in the Petition for a Stronger European Solidarity Corps, which highlights the need to expand European volunteering opportunities and improve programme conditions. Like the calls around Erasmus+, it underlines that Europe cannot claim to support youth participation at scale while keeping funding too limited to match its ambitions.
Taken together, these proposals point in the same direction: if the EU wants to take youth inclusion, participation, and equal opportunity seriously, then the next budget cycle must be designed for real scale, not only for symbolic commitment.
Why this matters now
For youth organisations, the message is clear. The next EU long-term budget is not an abstract institutional debate happening far away in Brussels. It will shape what is possible on the ground for the next seven years — who can participate, how well organisations can support them, and whether inclusion is treated as a real investment or simply as an expectation without resources.
A stronger EU education budget and a bigger Erasmus+ would not automatically solve every challenge. But they would create the conditions for youth mobility and youth work to grow in a way that is more inclusive, more sustainable, and more realistic.
From ambition to scale
If the EU is serious about skills, equal access, and social inclusion, then the next MFF must go beyond ambitious language. It must provide the scale needed to match Europe’s political promises with the realities of youth work.
For organisations active in Erasmus+ Youth, this is the core issue. A bigger programme can only become “for all” if it also comes with the resources needed for quality, preparation, safeguarding, and long-term support. That is why these amendments matter — and why the youth field should be paying close attention now.
