Just after becoming President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors marked the first milestones of what would very quickly become one of the most praised initiatives of the European Union: Erasmus. The thirtieth anniversary of the programme is an opportunity to consider its origins, with a view to gaining a better understanding of its essence and prospects.

Thanks to Jacques Delors’ archives, Claire Versini, Events manager and Citizen & pedagogical activities manager at the Jacques Delors Institute, gets back to the origines of this initiative on the fringes of Europe’s scope of power, and analyses the challenge raised by the massification and diversification of mobility opportunities.