P
rince
of
A
sturias
A
wards
1981-2014. S
peeches
5
First, erasmus enables our students to become aware of their own roots. Secondly, erasmus enables
them to discover sometimes for the first time a citizenship founded on others’ roots, common to all
Europeans, respecting historical, cultural and linguistic diversity. And most importantly, erasmus
makes this experience possible through direct contact, interchange, the shared joy of student life,
rather than through bookish knowledge.
Since the programme’s launch in 1987, more than onemillion erasmus students have participated
in the experience. It is an out-and-out success, particularly for the students themselves, who
acknowledge the adventure as one of the most enriching experiences of their lives. The advantages of
an erasmus experience go beyond indispensable academic and linguistic achievement. It is, above
all, a magnificent school of tolerance, adaptation to a foreign environment, respect for diversity of
cultures, and conviviality. These are European life experiences in all their richness and splendour.
Since the programme was created in 1987, the field of higher education in Europe has changed
profoundly.
Without erasmus, there would have been no Bologna Process. Without those hundreds of
thousands of erasmus students, I do not think the Declaration of Bologna could have been adopted
or agreed on. Forty European countries have now committed themselves to constructing a
European Higher Education Area. What is more, it is working!
Viviane Reding, on
behalf of the EU Erasmus
Programme
—
Prince of Asturias
Award for International
Cooperation
2004
In 2004, Viviane Reding was
European Commissioner for
Education and Culture.
—
Excerpt from the speech given on
the occasion of receiving the Prince
of Asturias Award for International
Cooperation on 22/10/2004.
