The Erasmus adventure Part I: “Galway is the only way”

The Emerald Island:  “Galway is the only way”

In the first semester of 2007 I had the opportunity to go on Erasmus and leave the comfy bubble of Leuven for half a year, which I thankfully did. After having examined all the “Erasmus options” at our university, I was glad to find Ireland on the list . This country has fascinated me from a young age on. And having been on vacation as a child mostly in the European South, time was there to discover something completely new. Ireland combines the southern hospitality with the beauty of  wild and genuine natural sceneries the North of Europe is known for. That was a bingo to me!

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The Erasmus adventure

“Are you one of the almost 3 million people who had the chance to have a study period abroad? Did you know that the first Erasmus program was launched on the 15th June 1987? This achievement shows how common projects make common dreams come true. When citizens come together, mutual understanding and solidarity increase: that’s the Federalists conviction!” (JEF Europe, 2012)

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the Erasmus Programma, fully quoted the EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. The original Erasmus Programme was proposed by the European Commission in the beginning of 1986. The smaller countries supported the proposal, but some of the major countries like the UK, France and Germany were not completely in favour of the proposal because they wanted to protect their own exchange programmes. It wasn’t until France was convinced that the Erasmus programme was finally adopted by a simple majority in the beginning of 1987. However, this method of voting was challenged by some of the opposing countries in the European Court of Justice. Fortunately, the Court didn’t follow the arguments of these countries! Nowadays, the Erasmus Programme and other exchange programmes such as the Leonardo da Vinci programme, make part of the Lifelong Learning Programme of 2007 – 2013 which replaced the former Socrates Programme as the European umbrella for education and training programmes.

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