Editor's note

The EU and member states’ efforts to support education and skills are the most important roadmaps for the perspective development. Presently, it is the national education authorities to ensure that national plans for the modernisation of education would benefit development strategies. The most important is the inherent connection between the national strategy and education/training options.  

The EU support for the member states

The Commissioner’s message is that the member states have to work harder to improve people's skills and competences so that they have a better chance to find a good job. That was the policy message presented in the Commission’s Communication on “Rethinking Education”. 

Source: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-106_en.htm?locale=en

There are several means in the EU’s efforts to support the member states’ policies:

A first element in these efforts is the EU Strategy for Growth and Jobs, i.e. EU-2020 Strategy. In particular, the Country-specific Recommendations are the main source to support the states in the reform efforts.

Secondly, the financial support from the EU: in 2013 the member states have to plan spending in the next generation of Structural Funds. In the current programming period (up to 2014) member states are spending € 35 billion from the Structural Funds on education, training and lifelong learning. As is known, the main share of the funding comes from the European Social Fund (€ 28 billion), but more than € 7 billion will be spent on education infrastructure through the European Regional Development Fund. These amounts can make a difference, if they are used effectively and for the right purposes. The legislative framework for the period 2014 – 2020 gives a prominent role to investment in education and training. It is now up to the Baltic States’ Ministers of Education, to ensure that national plans for the modernisation of education benefit from adequate funding.

Thirdly, the EU can help to organise mutual learning and provide the data, facts and figures that are needed to base national policies on a solid analysis.

ICT and education

Making better use of modern technologies in education and training is another EU’s key priority for the member states. It is important by two reasons:

- because the member states need to educate young and not-so-young people to live and thrive in an ICT dominated world; and

- because the EU needs to harness the real power of ICTs as new means to meet traditional educational goals such as raising the quality of education and opening up access for all.

At the same time, the Commissioner underlined the importance of the so-called U-Multirank project, a plan to provide a better, more efficient performance of European universities and colleges. U-Multirank highlights excellence in the European universities: in teaching and learning, in knowledge transfer and regional development and in internationalisation, as well as in research. This will increase the visibility and attractiveness of all European universities, not just the big league universities; it will also be based on a strong input from the different national actors.

The Commission’s task presently is to ensure participation of at least 500 institutions in the first round in view of the first publication early 2014 and the next six months are going to be crucial in this respect to progress fast. The member states have to look at this EU initiative in more details and promote it towards national higher education policies.

The future of the EU’s job market and employment

Such issues youth and jobs in Europe are at the heart of most young people’s concerns; hence the EU actions towards making young people get jobs and find ways in which growth, employment and the social situation can be better taken into account as the countries reinforce coordination of budgetary and structural policies.

Youth unemployment issues during severity of the current crisis are well-known: the latest figures (December 2012) show that there are 5,7 million unemployed young people under 25 across the EU, with over 3,6 million in the euro area. That amounts to a youth unemployment rate of 23,4% for the EU and 24% for the euro area; about 13-14 % in Latvia. 

Most politicians understand that the future of European economy and social progress depend on young people’s skills, ideas and abilities, and on whether they get an opportunity to apply and develop them in the labour market. Investing in young people is therefore a moral imperative, a social necessity and simple economic sense.

EU action to support young people

The EU-2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, which was adopted in 2010, includes among its five headline targets three that concern improving educational performance, boosting employment, reducing poverty and social exclusion. Progressing on all these targets depends on what opportunities could be created for young people and what kind of investments to be made.

In December 2011 the Commission adopted a Youth Opportunities Initiative calling for a stronger partnership between governments, businesses, trade unions, EU institutions and other players to tackle the situation. It set up Action Teams of Commission and national officials to look how EU funding could be used faster and better to help young people get jobs.

As a first result, funds worth €16 billion from the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund have been reallocated so they would benefit at least 628,000 additional young people compared to the original funding plan.

In December 2012, the Commission proposed a Youth Employment Package involving further practical initiatives. It proposes new instruments to tackle the short-term and structural employment problems facing young people.

The focus is on supporting the transition from education to work. This means reducing the high numbers of those neither in employment nor in education or training, and equipping all young people with the skills and experience they need to get a job.  

Youth Employment Package aims, among other things, to improve labour mobility for young people across Europe by opening up access to more job opportunities. This will involve transforming EURES, the network of European Employment Services, into a more flexible, demand-driven recruitment instrument. The goal is that people and companies get greater assistance with placing jobseekers into vacant jobs beyond national borders. The EU has started to run targeted mobility schemes for young people in the form of small-scale, tailor-made recruitment campaigns that will address particular vacancies in certain occupations, sectors or member states; the pilot project is known as Your first EURES Job. Apprenticeships and traineeships in another country that are linked to a job will also be facilitated by EURES.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-127_en.htm?locale=en