Your Erasmus+ National Agency: who it is and what to ask it

A scenario, not a real case. It is early February. A youth worker at a small association wants to apply for a youth exchange and has two partners waiting. She finds two Portuguese agency websites and is not sure which one is hers. One partner then asks for her organisation's partner profile. The newest copy she can find is two years old, with a former director's name and an old email. She loses an afternoon finding the right agency and another evening fixing the profile, with days to go to the deadline.

The rules behind that afternoon are short. For a youth exchange, you apply to the National Agency of the country in which your organisation is established (Programme Guide 2026, p. 157). The coordinator submits one application on behalf of all members, to the appropriate National or Executive Agency (Programme Guide 2026, p. 433).

So two questions come first: which agency manages the action, and which National Agency in your country covers your field. This guide answers both, with Portugal as the worked example.

Erasmus+ is mainly implemented through indirect management: the European Commission entrusts budget implementation tasks to National Agencies. The aim is to bring Erasmus+ as close as possible to its beneficiaries and to adapt to the diversity of national education, training and youth systems. Each EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme has appointed one or more National Agencies (Programme Guide 2026, p. 19).

The Erasmus+ Regulation sets the frame. Each national authority designates a national agency for the duration of the Programme (Regulation (EU) 2021/817, Article 26(3)).

Outside the EU and the associated countries, the role is different. In certain third countries not associated to the Programme, in the Western Balkans, the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods and Central Asia, National Erasmus+ Offices help the Commission and national authorities implement Erasmus+ (European Commission, Erasmus+ website, "National Erasmus+ Offices (NEOs)"). List of National Erasmus+ Offices

The Programme Guide lists the tasks of every National Agency (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 19–20):

• provide prospective beneficiaries with appropriate information on the Erasmus+ Programme (p. 19);
• administer a fair and transparent selection process for project applications to be funded in their country (p. 19);
• monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Programme in their country (p. 19);
• provide support to project applicants and participating organisations throughout the project life cycle (p. 19);
• collaborate with the network of all National Agencies and the European Commission (p. 19);
• promote the Programme and the dissemination and exploitation of its results at local and national level (p. 20).

National Agencies also run Training and Cooperation Activities, and they provide a supportive approach to newcomers, less experienced organisations and target groups with fewer opportunities, to remove obstacles to full participation (Programme Guide 2026, p. 20). That approach aims to guide applicants through all phases, from the first contact to the final evaluation, in line with the fairness and transparency of the selection (Programme Guide 2026, p. 20).

Erasmus+ funding is managed either by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) or by National Agencies. EACEA manages "centralised calls", published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. National Agencies manage "decentralised calls", published on the Erasmus+ applications portal (European Commission, Erasmus+ website, FAQ "As an organisation, who do I apply to?"). Commission page: which agency manages which action

Our guide to the two organisation codes explains how to check yours and why it must match. OID and PIC: which code goes where

The Commission keeps the official list, by country. The page says the National Agencies are based in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and that their role includes providing information, selecting projects to be funded and supporting applicants and participants (European Commission, Erasmus+ website, "National Agencies", updated 19 June 2026). If your country is not listed, the page points you to the list of National Erasmus+ Offices. Official list of Erasmus+ National Agencies

1. Check who manages your action, with the table above or the Commission's "Where to apply" page.
2. If it is a National Agency action, take the agency of the country in which your organisation is established, not the coordinator's or a partner's (for example Programme Guide 2026, pp. 157, 238, 246).
3. If your country has more than one National Agency, pick the one that covers your field. The entry for Portugal, for example, names the fields of each agency.
4. Read the calls and news on that agency's own website: the call for National Agency actions is published on the Erasmus+ website and publicised on the National Agencies' websites (Programme Guide 2026, p. 20).

Portugal has two National Agencies. The Commission's list gives each one its fields and contact details (European Commission, Erasmus+ website, National Agencies, entry "Portugal").

On its own website, the education and training agency says that Erasmus+ Education and Training and the Europass initiative are managed in Portugal by the Instituto para o Ensino Superior, I. P. (IES, I. P.), which integrates the Agência Nacional Erasmus+ Educação e Formação. For school education, VET and adult education, the follow-up of the programme is carried out by the Agência para a Gestão do Sistema Educativo, I. P. (AGSE, I. P.), under the technical guidance of IES, I. P. (Erasmus+ Educação e Formação website, "Gestão do Programa Erasmus+ e Iniciativa Europass"). Erasmus+ Educação e Formação: who manages the programme

The youth and sport agency's own website names it the Agência Nacional Erasmus+ Juventude/Desporto e Corpo Europeu de Solidariedade (juventude.pt). Its name also includes the European Solidarity Corps. Erasmus+ Juventude/Desporto website

• A school, VET provider, adult education organisation or higher education institution in Portugal applies to PT01 for National Agency actions in its field (Commission list, entry "Portugal").
• A youth organisation in Portugal applies to PT02, for example for youth exchanges, youth KA210 and KA220, and the Erasmus accreditation in youth (Commission list, entry "Portugal"; Programme Guide 2026, pp. 145, 157, 238, 246).
• Sport: mobility of sport staff goes to the National Agency (Programme Guide 2026, p. 209), which in Portugal is PT02. Sport partnerships go to EACEA, not to PT02 (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 238, 246).

Some answers are set nationally, so only your National Agency can give them. The Programme Guide leaves these points to the agencies:

• Is there a second round? National Agencies may open one, with a deadline of 1 October at 12:00 Brussels time, and they announce it on their website (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 92, 238, 246).
• Which priorities count most in your country? In partnerships managed by National Agencies, an agency may give more consideration to "European priorities in the national context", and must inform applicants through its official website (Programme Guide 2026, p. 237).
• Is your organisation eligible? For the Erasmus accreditation in school, VET and adult education, and for short-term KA1 projects in VET and adult education, the competent National Authority defines the eligible organisations, and the definitions are published on the National Agency's website (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 75, 92, 132).
• Which Training and Cooperation Activities are coming up? National Agencies organise them, including contact seminars (Programme Guide 2026, p. 20).

Yes. National Agencies organise Training and Cooperation Activities (TCAs): workshops, seminars and other events that share good practice and give networking opportunities. Participants can be from organisations already in Erasmus+ or planning to apply for a grant (Programme Guide 2026, p. 20).

In youth, TCAs include contact seminars, online events and other partner-finding opportunities, and information about them is in the European Training Calendar run by SALTO-Youth (Programme Guide 2026, p. 154). SALTO-Youth European Training Calendar

A Portuguese example from 2026. Ahead of the Erasmus accreditation deadline of 29 September at 12:00 Brussels time (Programme Guide 2026, p. 76), the education and training agency announced online support sessions on 11 September for school education, adult education and VET, with registration. It also announced "Hora Erasmus+" sessions on 23 September for final questions before submission. Those sessions needed no registration, and the agency said they would not be recorded and would give no certificate of attendance (Erasmus+ Educação e Formação website, news of 3 and 22 September 2026). Example: the "Hora Erasmus+" sessions (in Portuguese)

When we checked on 9 November 2026, the Commission's Programme Guide page still showed the 2026 Guide (version 1 of 12 November 2025) as the current version. The dates below come from it, and the 2026 rounds have passed.

• KA1 mobility in school, VET, higher and adult education: 19 February at 12:00 Brussels time, with a possible second round on 1 October for short-term projects in school, VET and adult education (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 52, 92, 95, 113, 116, 133, 136).
• Youth exchanges: 12 February and 1 October, at 12:00 Brussels time (Programme Guide 2026, p. 157).
• KA210 and KA220 at National Agencies: 5 March, and 1 October if the agency opens a second round, at 12:00 Brussels time (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 238, 246).
• Erasmus accreditation in school, VET and adult education, and in youth: 29 September at 12:00 Brussels time (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 76, 145).

The Guide warns applicants in other time zones to consider the time difference carefully to avoid rejections (Programme Guide 2026, p. 434). If you submit several versions of the same application before the deadline, the agency takes the last one (Programme Guide 2026, p. 433).

After the selection, successful applications are invited to grant preparation, others go on a reserve list or are rejected. If you think a rejection came from an error in the selection procedure, you can submit a complaint, following the deadlines and procedure in the notification letter (Programme Guide 2026, p. 435).

The National Agency checks what it receives. Before the award it makes legal checks, including legal entity validation, financial capacity and exclusion checks (Programme Guide 2026, p. 435). In multi-beneficiary actions managed by a National Agency, each partner signs an Accession and Declaration on Honour Form, and the grant agreement cannot be signed until every co-beneficiary has provided it (Programme Guide 2026, p. 433).

Coordinators build the application from what each partner sends them. Our guide lists what a partner sends, and our checklist lists what a good Partner Identification Form (PIF) contains. What partners send the coordinator

Want to check yours now? Our PIF checklist covers the identity facts first. Open the PIF checklist

MyPIF, which opens soon, will keep your PIF behind one permanent link that always shows the latest version, with version history and PDF or Word export. Join the waiting list before 1 December 2026 and get 2 months of Pro free, no card needed. Join the waiting list: 2 months of Pro free