The vice-Principal for Internationalisation and Cooperation of the Universitat de València, Carles Padilla, has participated in Brussels in the launch of the ‘European Universities’ project, which will facilitate the mobility of students and the validation of qualifications.  The Universitat de València is one of the eleven Spanish universities selected.

The Universitat de València set up the Forthem consortium, along with six other international universities, last October in Valencia, with the aim of advancing the Erasmus Plus Programme and achieving total validation of studies, the elimination of bureaucratic obstacles and greater mobility of students and university staff.

Carles Padilla met in Brussels with ministers and representatives of the governments of the beneficiary countries in the first call, in addition to the heads of higher education of the European Parliament.  The Spanish Ministry was represented by the Secretary of State for Universities, Research, Development and Innovation, Ángeles Heras Caballero; the Deputy Secretary for Science, Innovation and Universities, Pablo Martín González; the Secretary General for Universities, José Manuel Pingarrón Carrazón; and the Director of the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (SEPIE), Coral Martínez Iscar.

During the meeting, Ángeles Heras conveyed to the Spanish representatives her commitment to the internationalisation of universities and was convinced that the future European Higher Education Area is being built.  The European leaders reiterated this commitment and announced the second call with a total budget of 120 million euros, to be added to the 87 million of the first call.

The vice-Principal for Internationalisation and Cooperation has indicated that the Universitat de València is once again “at the forefront of European universities”. “We are taking a very important step forward in the evolution of the Erasmus programme: we are going to move from bilateral agreements to multilateral and supranational ones, from course stays to a foreign university to the possibility of doing a year at each university, from double degrees to real European degrees and masters”, he added.

On the other hand, Padilla continued, “we also want to increase the mobility of PAS and PDI and reduce the current bureaucratic procedures. After 30 years of Erasmus, this is a natural step to take and the Universitat is among those chosen to begin this new revolution of the higher education space. It is a great challenge that we assume willingly and with the maximum responsibility from the government team.”