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Overview of EM ECW

The European Union (EU) is recognizing the importance of Higher Education for social and economic development. Education plays an essential role in the production of human resources and dissemination of scientific knowledge, in order to prepare qualified and responsible leaders and professionals for the future.

The Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window (EM ECW) programme is a cooperation and mobility scheme in the area of higher education co-operation launched by Europe Aid Cooperation Office, and implemented by the "Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency" (EACEA).

The EM ECW objective is to achieve better understanding and mutual enrichment between the EU and Third Countries and cooperation in the field of higher education through promoting the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills. This will be achieved through the promotion of partnerships and institutional cooperation between European Higher Education Institutions and Third Country institutions and a mobility scheme addressing student and academic exchanges.

Specifically the EM ECW aims:

To enhance the international co-operation capacity of universities in third countries;
To promote co-operation between sending and hosting institutions;
To enable students to benefit linguistically, culturally and educationally from the experience of pursuing academic studies in another country, and to promote EU values;
To improve the transparency and recognition of studies and qualifications, in particular building on the "acquis" and achievements gained of the Bologna process in this area;
To enhance the skills and qualifications of foreign higher education staff so that they can contribute actively towards improvement of quality;
To build the capacity of the administration and public and private sector by participation of their staff in higher education mobility activities (especially through doctorate and post-doctorate activities);
To enhance in the medium term the political, cultural, educational and economical links between the European Union and Third-countries;