News | Announcement | EUROPEAN UNION CENTRE in TAIWAN

To facilitate international cooperation in higher education, the European Union (EU) set up the Erasmus+ National Focal Point (ENFP) in the major partner countries and regions in 2022. In this way, it offers information on the EU's higher education plans, promotes scholarship programmes, fosters collaboration and exchange between EU and higher education institutions, and establishes direct contact with the Directorate General for Education and Culture through a dedicated agency. Founded in 2009 as an alliance of 7 schools under the leadership of the National Taiwan University (NTU), the EU Centre in Taiwan obtained the joint recommendation of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taiwan and the Ministry of Education of ROC (Taiwan) in 2022 and gained the approval of European Commission in early 2023. The Ministry of Education officially invited NTU to advance cooperation in education between Taiwan and the EU. Taiwan is officially included in the EU's information platform on educational exchange. Inaugurated on 10 May, 2023, by NTU President Wen-Chang Chen, Filip Grzegorzewski, Head of the EETO in Taiwan, Hung-dah Su, Director General of the EU Centre in Taiwan, and Giuseppe Izzo, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT), and witnessed by representatives of the EU in Taiwan and the deans of NTU faculties, the ENFP was officially launched. “As 9 May is Europe Day, this is the best gift that attests to the deepening of Europe’s bilateral relations with Taiwan,” remarked Director Filip Grzegorzewski. He expressed hope that the establishment of this National Focal Point would further enhance exchanges in higher education between Europe and Taiwan. President Wen-Chang Chen also voiced his expectation that this National Focal Point would strengthen the collaboration within the university alliance between Taiwan and Europe, becoming a cornerstone for the development of bilateral relations. Taking advantage of this major event, Hungdah Su introduced the development of Erasmus+ and the focus of the National Focal Point’s projects in the future. Erasmus+ is the EU’s biggest cooperation project in higher education. With a total of 13 sub-projects, it consists of three major programme areas, including Learning Mobility of Individuals, Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices, and Support for Policy Reform. There are also dedicated plans to encourage cross-border, interdisciplinary education and cooperation. The funding for 2023 will reach 4.43 billion euros. The future tasks of the National Focal Point are to provide Taiwanese academic and relevant communities, especially young students, with the latest information on Erasmus+ related to higher education, technical and vocational training, and youth affairs. This will in turn promote local academic communities’ dialogue with regional partner communities and help them receive the latest planning information from the Directorate General for Education and Culture. In fact, the National Focal Point has already introduced the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters and shared the information on the scholarship of the EU and the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) at national and municipal libraries in northern, central, and southern Taiwan. The National Focal Point will also introduce the Erasmus+ at the European Education Fair Taiwan on the 4th and 5th of November, which will be held face-to-face for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The official inauguration of ENFP is a milestone in the cultural and educational cooperation as well as exchange relations between Europe and Taiwan. The selection of the EU Centre in Taiwan as an ENFP is thanks to its achievements in the past. The Centre is an alliance established by NTU and six other universities, including National Chengchi University, National Chung Hsing University, Sun Yat-sen University, Donghua University, Fu Jen Catholic University, and Tamkang University. It is also an exchange platform established through an agreement with the EU. Despite the minor differences in their names, the EU Centres in each country are all delegated by the EU, serving as the mechanism for exchange and cooperation between the society and the academia of said country and the EU. Furthermore, these Centres connect with each other to form a global and regional EU research community. For more information on the activities of the European Union Centre in Taiwan, please visit the following website: http://www.eutw.org.tw.