Will Brexit have any impact on agreements between Czech and British Higher Education Institutions?
Regarding the fact that the United Kingdom withdrew from the EU on the basis of the Withdrawal Agreement on January 31 2020, the transition period started on February 1 2020 and will last till the end of 2020. The UK will therefore fully participate in the Erasmus+ programme during this transition period ending with the concurrent programme period. That basically means that cooperation between Czech and British higher education institutions will not be influenced by Brexit at least for the rest of the transition period.
Will there be a continuation in exchange agreements with the EU after Brexit?
Currently the UK is fully involved in the Erasmus+ programme and will stay so at least for the rest of the transition period. At the same time the negotiations about the future relationship between the EU and the UK are underway. These negotiations should solve also the UK's participation in the Erasmus+ after the transition period. There are currently also other non-EU countries that are participating fully in the Erasmus+ programme (EEA countries, Turkey, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia) and the mobility of participants from these countries work the same way as the mobility of participants from EU countries. In regard with already mentioned negotiations the Czech Republic supports the participation of the UK in the Erasmus+ programme as a programme country and is interested in maintaining and developing the cooperation with the UK. Such arrangement will enable applicants from the UK to spend their mobility in the Czech Republic and vice versa. That is really important due to the fact that mobility is frequent between the two countries and the UK is one of the most popular destinations for Czech Erasmus+ participants. The UK is in fact one of the five most popular destination to study abroad for Czech students studying at Higher Education Institutions.
Who will pay for the scholarships of Erasmus+ students from the UK who will come to study in the Czech Republic after Brexit?
Scholarships will be paid for as usual till the end of transition period. The same way of paying for them will be used after the transition period if the UK becomes programme country.
How the higher education institutions should proceed in this regard?
The procedure stays the same. At the moment nothing is changing for students and higher education institutions from the UK.
Information in Czech language you will find at: https://www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/vysoke-skolstvi/informace-k-programu-erasmus-v-souvislosti-s-brexitem?lang=1.
