European Commission states: No immediate change for Erasmus+ programmes in the UK

There is no immediate change to the UK’s participation in the Erasmus+ Programme following the EU referendum result and the UK National Agency will continue to manage and deliver the Programme across the UK. All participants and beneficiaries in the school education sector should continue with their Erasmus+ funded activities and preparation for the published application deadlines – in 2016 and 2017. This position is supported by the statement from Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science, published on 28 June 2016. His statement also outlines some initial information regarding the UK’s future access to the Erasmus+ programme and we will update all those involved in the programme when further information becomes available. The European Commission (EC) has also published an update on their Erasmus+ website here which links to an article on the UK’s status within the EU here.

Agriculture in the UK post Brexit

Text: The dust has certainly been stirred up in the UK agriculture sector following the Brexit result of last Thursday. In my last blog post the big issue was the fate of Roundup and glyphosates in the EU – the renewal of the licence for these being delayed and a decision will rest on further study of potential negative effects of glyphosate in the food chain. A significant role, from an agroecological perspective, that has been played by the EU is the regulation of GMO’s and many member states have opted out of growing GMO’s. It remains to be seen what emerges in a Brexit UK. The NFU states on their website that farmers in the UK have been frustrated by an “excessive use of the precautionary principle” (see www.nfuonline.com – article of 24.06.2016). Now that the vote has been cast what does this mean for consumers, who will want to be sure that developments in agriculture continue to be carefully scrutinized?