Brussels, 06/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - In the education, youth, culture and sports fields, the Latvian presidency will seek to develop a work agenda that relates to global economic and social challenges facing the European Union. The presidency will also be particularly eager to enhance the well-being and quality-of-life of European citizens by promoting greater use of new technologies in the education, culture and audio visual fields. In particular:
Education: the presidency would like to provide new impetus to the strategic framework for education and training as a means to attain four different objectives by 2020. The work is expected to see publication of a report. It also wants to strengthen cooperation between member states and between them and candidate and EFTA countries, in the vocational training sector. Other questions included in the Latvian agenda are: the internationalisation of higher education, particularly in cooperation between member states and ASEM countries in this field; the role of primary education and fostering digital skills and creativity in young children; mutual recognition of skills and qualifications in member states, as a means to increase mobility and employability.
Youth: the Presidency will mainly focus on implementation of the 2014-2015 Youth Work Plan, which is characterised by a more-sectoral youth policy approach. It also wants to make progress on the question of the youth sector's contribution to the EUROPE 2020 goals and help organise the European Youth Conference 2015.
Culture: one of the Latvian Presidency's objectives in the cultural arena will be to underline the importance of culture as an important instrument for growth and a fundamental element for society's development. It will also examine access and participation to culture in the digital era and tackle transversal aspects of culture as a means of stimulating innovation and creativity.
Audio-visual: the Presidency will follow the work of the European Commission attentively, on the revision of the directive on audio visual media services. A conference will also be organised on convergence in the audio visual sector.
Sport: Presidency work in the sporting field will focus on implementation of the European work plan for sport 2014-2017. The benefits of sport for young people and the development of transversal skills for employability and vocational development, as well as the positive consequences of sport on health, will also be on the agenda. The Presidency will also be following developments at the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions and the World Anti-Doping Agency. (IL)