Brussels, 18/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Education, Youth, Culture and Sport (EYC) Council will meet in Brussels on Friday 20 May. Among the main points on the very full agenda will be a decision on the European heritage label. Education ministers will continue their discussions on two issues which fall within the framework of the EUROPE 2020 strategy - leaving school early with few or no qualifications and youth mobility. Under sport, online betting will be debated, just as the European Commission, in its Green Paper published on 24 March, has opened a debate on the need to regulate this market.
Culture. The Council is expected to reach political agreement on the European Heritage Label. The Belgian Presidency made great progress in discussions but did not manage to remove two obstacles: where the funding was to come from and which institution would be responsible for designating the sites that were to receive the label. Ministers will also adopt conclusions on the contribution made by culture to implementation of the EUROPE 2020 strategy and on the mobility of artists and culture professionals to facilitate their access to the European labour market. The Council will also adopt a decision officially designating Plzeò in the Czech Republic as European Capital of Culture for 2015.
Youth. Improving the lot of young people on the labour market is one of the objectives set by the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian trio of Presidencies. Ministers will adopt a resolution on this issue. They will also adopt a resolution on participation of young people in democratic life in Europe, as part of the acknowledged need for a stronger dialogue between European, national, regional and local institutions and youth organisations. A policy debate will be held on voluntary activities in which young people are engaged.
Education. As an education objective in the EUROPE 2020 strategy, the European Commission set a target of reducing school drop-out levels to below 10% by the end of 2012. This is a target which remains difficult to achieve. Ministers will, then, hold a policy debate on possible prevention policies to address early school-leaving by children from disadvantaged backgrounds. They will also adopt a resolution on policies for reducing early school-leaving. Conclusions will be adopted on early childhood education and care to highlight the long-term advantages of early exposure to the world of education. Lastly, ministers will adopt a recommendation on promoting youth mobility for education and training. Mobility is a key priority of the new Commission initiative, “Youth on the move”.
Sport. The issue of online betting will be central to discussions by sports ministers. At the end of March, the Commission published a Green Paper broaching the question of EU intervention in regulating online betting, as national rules vary widely from one member state to another. In public debate, ministers will discuss the risks to sport posed by illegal online betting (match fixing, money laundering, etc.). Lastly, they will adopt a resolution on the European Union work plan for sport for 2011-2014. (I.L./transl.rt)