The primary responsibility for education and culture policies lies with the EU states; the Union’s institution are having only supporting and coordinating competence to enhance education at national, regional and local levels. However, the EU institutions are playing important roles, particularly in cross-border activities. For instance, after 30 years in operation, the Erasmus programme (Erasmus+ since 2014) has enabled 9 million people to study, train, teach, or volunteer in another country.
Over the past decade, the EU has also developed a series of “soft policy” tools to help EU states in the design of national education policies: since 2000, the EU states have been cooperating under the “Framework for European cooperation in education and training”, which set common objectives and benchmarks.
In 2010, the EU set two additional education targets within the EU-2020 Strategy: a) early school leaving has been reduced from 13.9% in 2010 to 10.7% in 2016, with the target to reach 10% by 2020. And b) tertiary educational attainment is up to 39.1% in 2016 from 34% in 2010, with the target of 40% by 2020.
To steer the Union’s educational reform and to stimulate discussion about European future, President Juncker proposed in his State of the Union Address in September 2017 a Roadmap for a More United, Stronger and More Democratic Union. Meeting in Gothenburg (17.xi.2017) is an opportunity for the EU leaders to discuss the strengthening of European identity through education and culture. Thus, the Commission’s ideas on the EU’s education area (EEA) are intended as a contribution to the EU leaders’ summit in Gothenburg. The Commission believes that it is in the common interest of all the EU states to harness the full potential of education and culture as drivers for job creation, economic growth and social fairness as well as a means to experience European identity in all its diversities.
EU’s opinion on education’s reform
Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen said on the occasion of the EEA that one of European greatest achievements has been the creation of an area of free movement for workers and citizens. But, he argued, there were still obstacles to mobility in the area of education; thus, by 2025 the EU shall create an area in which learning, studying and doing research would not be hampered by borders: studying in another EU state shall be the norm.
Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, added that for EU’s future a shared agenda for culture and learning should serve as a driver for unity. In this sense, education becomes a key, as education equips people with skills necessary to be active members of increasingly complex societies. It is education, he argued, that helps people adapt to a rapidly changing world, to develop a European identity, to understand other cultures and to gain the new skills needed in mobile, multicultural and increasingly digital society.
In March 2017, the EU leaders committed to creating a “Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent”. The Commission believes that education and culture can be an important part of the solution in tackling the challenges of an ageing workforce, continued digitalisation, future needs for skills, the need to promote critical thinking and media literacy in an era where “alternative facts” and disinformation can proliferate online, as well as the need to foster a greater sense of belonging in face of populism and xenophobia.
