Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Legislation

The new Commission report’s conclusions are reached through an assessment of national policies on access to higher education, funding and student support. The report, covering EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey, provides input for the Commission's new strategy for the modernisation of higher education, to be launched on 20 September. It would be well worth mentioning that education policies are solely within the member states’ competences; only recommendation could be appropriate.

According the report published on 16 September, European countries have to adapt their higher education systems to meet the challenges resulting from rapid societal change. In particular, they need to open up opportunities for more people to benefit from higher education, matching this objective with coherent measures, funding and monitoring to evaluate their impact.

Commission’s opinion

Reflecting on the reform, the EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou argued that the EU-27 member states –so far – failed “to make the most of the talents available in Europe”. Unless the EU changes the existing path, she added, the EU would fall behind present global competitors. She concluded: “we need to widen access to higher education to the largest proportion of citizens possible, and it is vital that this objective is at the heart of our education goals." Reference:  IP/11/1037, 16.09.2011.  

European targets: 3 topics

European leaders have set a target for 40% of 30-34 year olds to have a higher education qualification by 2020 - an increase from just over 33% today.

The study, produced for the Commission by the Eurydice network, focuses on three key topics:  

• policies to widen participation in higher education;
• funding trends; and
• the impact of student fee and support systems.

Eurydice Network

The Eurydice Network provides information on and analyses of European education systems and policies. It consists of 37 national units based in all 33 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning Program (EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey). It is co-ordinated and managed by the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, which drafts its studies and provides a range of online resources.

Differences in approaches

The report reveals that approaches to meet shared European objectives vary greatly between countries and have different impacts on the performance of higher education. For example, there seems to be an East-West divide regarding routes to higher education for non-traditional candidates such as adult learners and people entering university on the basis of skills gained in the workplace rather than school qualifications.

The report highlights changes in higher education spending in response to the crisis. Over the past academic year (2010/11 compared to 2009/10) budgets were most increased in Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Finland and Malta, while the deepest cuts were made in Greece, Ireland, Iceland, (8-10% decrease), as well as in Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (up to 3% decrease).

The report also shows the tuition fees and grants which apply in each country. However, it does not single out any particular approach as the best option because what works well in one country does not always work in another.

For more information see:

= The Report is available at:

Modernisation of higher education in Europe: Funding and the Social Dimension 2011 

= European Commission website on: Education and training

= On the EU's education policies and programs see:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.htm

= The Eurydice Network , which provides information and analyses on European education systems and policies online.