Brussels, 21/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The economic crisis has an obvious impact on national budgets for education, it is revealed by the Eurydice network study carried out on behalf of the European Commission. According to the Commission, investment made in the field of education has fallen in eight of the 25 member states examined since 2010. “We need a consistent approach on public investment in education and training because this holds the key to the future of our young people and a long-term sustainable economic recovery”, warned Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. Cuts of over 5% have been imposed in Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal, with decreases of between 1% and 5% in Estonia, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom (Scotland). On the other hand, five member states have increased spending by over 1% (Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden), as well as the German-speaking community of Belgium. Germany and the Netherlands have not provided data for the period since 2010. Spending trends vary in other member states, with some increasing their budgets one year but decreasing them the next, or vice versa. This is the case of Belgium (French speaking community), Cyprus, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, the United Kingdom (Wales), Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. Cuts have been made in teachers' salaries and on the wage bill for teaching staff. On the other hand, 18 countries have increased the budget earmarked for teacher training and most countries studied have not made any changes to state grants or other allowances. (IL/transl.jl)