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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Monday, 25.05.2026, 18:32

EU programs for student mobility, law and governmental reforms in neighbourhood countries and Russia

Eugene Eteris, European Studies Faculty, RSU, Riga, 22.11.2010.

The European Commission adopted the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Interregional Action Programme for 2011 in Brussels. The program covers the European Neighbourhood countries and Russia and is worth total of € 52 million.

The European Commission adopted the European Neighbourhood Policy, ENP Interregional Action Programme for 2011 in Brussels. on 17 November 2010.

Out of the EU total allocation of more than € 50 mln, the following programs will be supported:

€ 36 million will be used to support mobility of students and academic staff, fostering higher education co-operation between the EU and the neighbouring partner countries (through Erasmus Mundus);
€ 7 million will be used to support partner countries' harmonisation and approximation of their national legislations with EU rules (through TAIEX);
€ 9 million will support advances of governance reforms in the partner countries (through SIGMA).

Program description

The Inter-regional Programme (IRP) promotes the development of higher education in the EU’s neighboring partner countries and provides mechanisms to improve student and academic mobility.

The Erasmus Mundus programme (Action 2 partnerships) provides support for the establishment of cooperation partnerships between European higher education institutions and higher education institutions from targeted third countries. Scholarships of various lengths can be awarded to interested students who fulfill the application criteria.

The exchange programme is open to undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral students from the partner countries and will allow for student and teaching staff exchanges. Since 2007, already almost 4000 students from the Neighbourhood partner countries and Russia benefited from this exchange programme.

TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange) is an instrument under the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It aims to foster political and economic co-operation, primarily regarding the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation.

SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) is a joint initiative of the European Union and the OECD. It is principally financed by the European Union and supports European Neighbourhood and Partnership countries in their public administration reforms.

In inaugurating the EU programs, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle stated that the development of human capital has been among EU priorities in cooperation with neighbor states. Through exchange of experience between academics, civil servants and students, the EU seek to achieve better understanding and mutual enrichment between the European Union and our partner countries. See: IP/10/1516.