INTRODUCTION

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is responsible for the management of certain parts of the EU's programmes in the fields of education, culture and audiovisual.
The Executive Agency operates under supervision from its three parent Directorates-General: Education and Culture (DG EAC), Information Society and Media (DG INFSO) and the EuropeAid Cooperation Office (DG AIDCO)

The Lifelong Learning Programme provides grants and subsidies in four sub-programmes and four supporting cross-cutting programmes. Grants and subsidies will be awarded to support the trans-national mobility of individuals, to promote bilateral and multilateral partnerships, or to improve quality in education and training institutions and systems.

The four sub-programmes are:

• The Comenius programme provides funding for all those in pre-school and school education up to the level of the end of upper secondary education, and the institutions and organisations providing such education;
• The Erasmus programme provides funding for all those in formal higher education, including trans-national student placements in enterprise, and the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training;
• The Leonardo da Vinci programme provides funding for all those in vocational education and training, including placement in enterprise of persons other than students, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training;
• The Grundtvig programme provides funding for all those in all forms of adult education, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education.

The four sub-programmes are supported by a ‘transversal programme’, which consists of the following main activities:

• policy cooperation and innovation in lifelong learning;
• promotion of language learning;
• development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogies and practice for lifelong learning;
• dissemination and exploitation of results of actions supported under the Lifelong Learning Programme

These actions are complemented by the new Jean Monnet programme, which supports university teaching and research.