The development of The development of education education and and the structural the structural

policy of the European policy of the European UnionUnion

Budapest - 2004 October 25

Halász GáborNational Institute for Public Education

Budapesrt

Questions to be treated

• Structural policy and educational development in the EU: the background

• The emergence of a European lifelong learning (LLL) policy in the nineties

• The increasing importance of learning in employment and structural policies

• Perspectives for new and old member countries

Structural policy and educational development: the background

• The origins: limited possibilities for using structural funds for educational development

• Examples of structural funds being used successfully for educational development in a few countries (e.g. Ireland, Portugal) in the nineties – the condition of success: connecting educational

development strongly to social, economic and territorial development

• The emergence of the European LLL policy changes the scene

The emergence of the European LLL policy and the European Employment Strategy/1

• Global trends shaping EU policies on learning• The great „breakthrough”: the 1993 Delors

report on growth, employment and competitiveness

• The emergence of a new European LLL policy– The 1995 White Book on „Teaching and Learning

” and the European LLL year (1996)– The LLL Memorandum (2000) and the

communication on „Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality” (2001)

Learning in employment asnd structural policy/1

• The late nineties:– The emergence of the new

European Employment Strategy (EES) – A key feture of EES: improving the adaptability

of working force through LLL– Employment becomes increasingly linked with

structural policy (ESF becomes the instrument of the new EES)

• The implications for the education sector: education increasingly connected with structural policy through EES

Learning in employment asnd structural policy/2

• Valorising learning in the European Employment Strategy– Defining common LLL goals: the guidelines

– Reporting on national LLL policies: LLL policy evaluation in the the NAPs and the Joint reports

• Related education sector measures• Growing impact on structural policy and on

the regulation of structural funds

Learning in employment asnd structural policy /3

• The objectives of structural policy in the 2000-2006 period –the three objectives

• The new (2000-2006) third objective: developing education and training and investing into human resources

• Education and training in structural policy after 2006 – possible scenarios– Lisbon process as a strong common political priority– The outcome of policy coordination between member

states (OMC)– The improvement of inter-sectoral cooperation– Expectations and attitudes of new member countries

Perspectives

• A question to be answered by the education sector: „How to harness structural policy for educational development?”

• New opportunities (new resources) but also new challenges (greater) interdependence with other sectors)

• What should the education sector do:– Exploring better linkages between national education

policy priorities and those of EU structural policy– Strengthening cooperation between education and

other sectors (employment, social affaires, territorial development, public management reform)

– Sharing successful practices between countries

Thank you for your Thank you for your attention!attention!