Brussels, 08/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Dutch Presidency's priorities for education have been influenced by the refugee crisis and rise in religious radicalism, as is revealed by a working document it published on Thursday 7 January.
Education and youth. The Netherlands has a low level of youth unemployment compared with the rest of Europe, standing at 11.4% in November 2015 (compared with 20% in the EU28). Experts say these good results are partly due to its sandwich courses that combine company apprenticeships with skills training at college. During its term of office, the Dutch Presidency will include in its priorities the development of knowledge, skills and employability for the working population, in line with the ET2020 strategic programme. With this in mind, it will focus work on updating higher education and professional training and will work on mutual recognition of qualifications to the benefit of higher education and professional training to contribute to making full use of the potential of digital jobs.
The Dutch Presidency pledges to foster debate about education's contribution to dealing with and integrating immigrants, and the role of education and youth work in countering the radicalisation of youth. It will align action with the Luxembourg Presidency's conclusions document on current developments and possible initiatives by the European Commission. Particular attention will be paid to integrating youngsters suffering from mental problems.
Culture and sport. The Presidency pledges to make progress with talks on the future revision of the audiovisual media directive announced by the European Commission. It will submit a conclusions document to the Council on infrastructure and platforms required for digital heritage (such as the Europeana portal for the digital collections of European cultural and scientific institutions).
When it comes to sport, the Dutch Presidency will put the question of ethics in sport in the spotlight, supporting the EU's work programme for sport in 2014-2017. Its work will focus on preparing and organising international sport events, seeking to ensure they have a positive social, economic and environmental impact.
European education, youth, culture and sports ministers will meet in Brussels on 24 February and 30-31 May. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)
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