Education, vocational training and youth
The principle of subsidiarity means that each Member State assumes full responsibility for the organisation of its education and vocational training systems and the content of teaching. In accordance with Articles 149 and 150 of the EC Treaty, the Community's role is to contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, by supporting and supplementing their action, especially with a view to developing the European dimension in education, encouraging mobility and promoting cooperation among European schools and universities. In line with these articles, the Union therefore does not intend to develop a common education policy. However, it does have at its disposal a number of specific tools to encourage cooperation in this field: •Community action programmes adopted under the European codecision procedure (Council and Parliament), namely: - SOCRATES, which encourages student mobility and, to that end, cooperation between universities (Erasmus programme), schools (Comenius programme), and language learning (Lingua programme) and promotes the development of networks with a view to the recognition of qualifications (Naric network), the provision of information in the field of education (Eurydice) and the exchange of experience between decision-makers in the field of education (Arion); - LEONARDO DA VINCI, which promotes access to vocational training by improving national vocational training systems and encouraging innovation and lifelong learning; - YOUTH, which facilitates the mobility of less-privileged young people outside education structures and enables them, through the European Voluntary Service (EVS), to participate in projects run by associations or local authorities in Europe or developing countries; •Community legal acts encouraging policy cooperation between Member States, such as recommendations, communications (e.g. on lifelong learning or quality assessment of school and university education), working documents, pilot projects, etc.; •two bodies supporting Union activities in the field of vocational training: the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), which develops academic and technical activities in support of the development of vocational training in Europe, and the European Training Foundation (ETF), which supports and coordinates the reform of vocational training systems as part of PHARE, TACIS and MEDA. To achieve the goal set by the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 (to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world), the Commission has stepped up policy cooperation in the field of lifelong learning in order to improve the quality of education and vocational training systems, facilitate universal access to education and vocational training, and open up education and vocational training systems to the world. Helping the active population to adapt continuously to technological change is one of the main tools in the fight against unemployment and in building a genuine Europe of knowledge. See: •European Union Agencies •eEurope •Equal treatment for men and women •Employment •Subsidiarity | ||||
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