Plan to extend the Erasmus programme to countries in the Maghreb and Middle East

Question for written answer E-004221/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Jordan Bardella (PfE)

The Commission has announced plans to include several countries in the Maghreb and Middle East in the Erasmus programme.

Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia already account for 60 000 of the 450 000 foreign students in France. Student visas have become a channel for immigration that places a heavy burden on our university infrastructure, student housing and public finances; their cost is estimated by the Court of Auditors at EUR 1 billion per year.

Does the Commission intend to reconsider this controversial expansion of the Erasmus programme, given the out-of-control migration situation and the unreasonable costs that such an expansion would entail for Member States already facing budgetary constraints?

Submitted: 27.10.2025