2 Euro BU

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam was a Dutch humanist, theologian and Renaissance philologist. He was probably born in 1466 and died in Basel in 1536. Erasmus spent time, among other places, in the Netherlands, France, England, Italy and the territory of present-day Switzerland. He was in contact with scholars in various parts of Europe and published most of his works in Latin, the common language of scholarship at the time. One of his best-known works is the satirical *Praise of Folly* (*Lob der Torheit*). He also produced a printed edition of the Greek New Testament with a Latin translation. His work across Europe made him the namesake of the exchange programme.

The Erasmus Programme was established in 1987 by the European Community of the time. Its name was also used as an abbreviation for “European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”. The programme was intended to enable students to complete part of their studies at a higher education institution in another European country. It was based on agreements between the participating higher education institutions, financial grants and procedures for the academic recognition of achievements completed abroad.

In this way, the Community also responded to practical obstacles to European cooperation in education. Degree programmes, examination regulations and records of academic achievement were organised differently at national level. In the context of the programme, the transfer and recognition of academic achievements was therefore further developed. Stays abroad were not to be reserved for individual higher education institutions, but were to be institutionally regulated and made accessible to larger groups.

Since 2014, higher education mobility has been part of Erasmus+. This broader EU programme includes not only higher education, but also vocational education and training, school education, adult education, youth exchanges and sport. In addition to learning stays, it supports, among other things, internships, teaching activities and cooperation between educational institutions.

The anniversary was a suitable occasion for the coin issue because Erasmus is based on jointly organised European cooperation and is not associated exclusively with a single state. The finance ministers of the euro-area countries therefore decided on a common issue featuring the same design. The design used, by the French medallist Joaquin Jimenez, had previously prevailed in an EU-wide online vote against five other proposals.