Brussels, 11/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has welcomed the increased budget for education, youth and creativity in the budget proposals of the European Commission for 2014-2020. In order to respond to the needs of the employment market of tomorrow and to fight policy, it is vital to improve education and training and to help the citizens to acquire the right skills, stressed the commissioner for education, training, youth and multilingualism, in the framework of the Eurydice report on illiteracy. “This budget is excellent news for people and organisations active in education, creativity and innovation. Investing in these areas is one of the best business and employment plans for the future of Europe”, she added. The Commission is proposing a new programme for education, training and youth, with an envelope of €15.2 billion (+73%) over seven years. This proposal will make it possible to fund more study and training bursaries and to help update education systems, step up trans-national cooperation between teaching establishments and to develop reforms in the sector. Another programme proposed, “Creative Europe”, to provide an umbrella for the current programmes Culture, MEDIA and MEDIA Mundus, will support the culture and creativity sectors, with a budget of €1.6 billion (+37%). Its priority will be to help organisations and businesses from both sectors. Lastly, the European Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Marie Curie Actions will be an integral part of the new strategy for research and innovation, “Horizon 2020”, which the Commission proposes to give an envelope of €80 billion (+46%). The Commission will present the new programmes in detail in the autumn. (I.L./transl.fl)