Rapprochement or revival, as part of Starmer’s “reset” plans, political and institutional voices on the continent have praised the return of Erasmus despite criticism in some camps in the UK, says Jamie Smith-Maillet.

The Westminster government announcement on Wednesday that the UK would be returning to the EU’s Erasmus scheme may be seen as a manifesto-pledge ticking task. But for Keir Starmer, it also sits in firmly with his “reset” plans with the EU, for which he has received some criticism from Conservative benches. South of the Channel, it is fair to say that the news of the rapprochement has been widely welcomed in both political and higher education circles.

From 2027, a return to the programme, which the UK left in 2020 after post-Brexit talks fell flat, will once again see exchanges made possible backed with funding between UK and participating, mostly EU, partner countries across further and higher education, in training, culture and sport, and will carry a price tag of some £570m.

In a joint statement, the UK government’s EU relations minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, and his EU counterpart, Maroš Šefčovič, hailed the move as a comeback that offered “significant opportunities […] for individuals […], particularly for those in the younger generation”.

Talking to The Guardian, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes, saw the pledge to return to the scheme as “brilliant news”, adding it would allow students to “[open] their eyes to different cultures and different ways of life”.

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A view that Fanny Chouc, assistant professor at Heriot Watt University’s Languages and Intercultural Studies Department, shared. Speaking to The Herald, Chouc also saw the announcement as “excellent news for UK university students”, highlighting the many interests the “form of modern........

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