Education in the European Union

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In the European Union education is the responsibility of member states; European Union institutions play a supporting role in this field. According to Art. 149 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Community

shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States,

through actions such as promoting the mobility of citizens, designing joint study programmes, establishing networks, exchanging information or teaching languages of the European Union. The Treaty also contains a commitment to promote life-long learning for all citizens of the Union.

The EU funds educational, vocational and citizenship-building programmes which encourage EU citizens to take advantage of opportunities which the EU offers its citizens to live, study and work in other countries.

In recent years, conscious of the importance of Education and Training for their economic and social objectives, EU Members States have begun working together (using the legislative process known as the Open Method of Coordination) to achieve a set of 13 specific goals in the field of Education. This is referred to as the Education and Training 2010 programme. By sharing examples of good policy practice, by taking part in Peer Learning activities, by setting benchmarks and by tracking progress against key indicators, the 25 Member States aim to respond coherently to common challenges, whilst retaining their individual sovereignty in the field of Education policy.

The European Union is also a partner in various inter-governmental projects, including the Bologna Process whose purpose is to create a European higher education area by harmonising academic degree standards and quality assurance standards throughout EU Member States and in other European countries.