Sharing more than just knowledge: Europe's student exchange programme results in one million babies

It gives new meaning to the phrase "European Union".

Europe's Erasmus student exchange scheme brought so many couples together from across the continent that it led to the birth of one million babies, the EU said yesterday.

A study of the programme's impact since its launch in 1987 showed that 27 per cent of people who took part had met their current life partner during their stay abroad.

Thirty-three per cent of Erasmus students hooked up with people of a different nationality, nearly three times the rate of students who had not travelled.

That created something of an EU baby boom.

Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for education, said the EU "estimates that around one million babies are likely to have been born to Erasmus couples since 1987".