The Answer Was Yes
Everyone knows Erasmus, the European Union’s flagship student exchange programme. Far fewer know the role the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) played in making it possible.
The story begins long before Erasmus was officially launched in 1987. In 1968, education had already become central to ECF’s vision for Europe, with one of the four strands of its ambitious Plan Europe 2000 programme dedicated to it. From this seven-year research emerged several institutes, including the European Institute of Education, founded in January 1975 in Brussels, retaining a branch there even after relocating to Paris later that year.
Key protagonists shaped what followed. Raymond Georis, newly appointed Secretary-General of ECF, met Hywel Ceri Jones in 1973, shortly after he became head of the European Commission’s first department for education and youth. Another central figure was the Czech educationist Ladislav Čerych, the driving force behind the Institute, which he directed until 1990, and whose intellectual leadership helped lay the groundwork for structured European cooperation in higher education.
As in many great stories, the turning point came over a shared meal. On 23 June 1975, near the Brussels roundabout named after Robert Schuman – who was also the first president of ECF – Georis, Jones and Čerych met for lunch to discuss the future of education in Europe. Despite the grand title of his department, Jones had a small team and a limited mandate. He thus asked whether ECF could provide technical assistance, through its Brussels-based Office for Cooperation in Education, to help implement pilot student mobility schemes.
The answer was yes. Within a year, the Joint Study Programme and Short Study Visits were launched. For the first time, students could study abroad with full academic recognition from their home universities.
As these pilot schemes proved successful, the European Commission increased its support and began shaping a more ambitious initiative. From 1985 onwards, Erasmus was on the drawing board. The road to approval in the Council was long and bumpy. During this preparatory phase, Alan Smith, then director of the Office for Cooperation in Education – renamed in July 1987 the Erasmus Bureau – played a decisive role. His meticulous work, preserved today in the ECF Archives at the Historical Archives of the European Union, testifies to the extent of ECF’s involvement.
Since its creation, Erasmus has transformed millions of lives and strengthened a shared sense of belonging across Europe. For ECF, this history is a reminder that independent foundations can work hand in hand with European institutions to shape public policy – and create lasting impact. As Erasmus approaches its fortieth anniversary, we look forward not only to celebrating its legacy but to reclaiming this unique chapter of our story.
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