The new EU strategy on skills will be at the heart of the Education and Youth Council meeting in Brussels on Monday 21 November. Ministers are expected to reach a political agreement on introducing a skills guarantee.
This will also be the only legislative dossier of the day. Education ministers will adopt a resolution for politically supporting the new Commission strategy for skills in Europe. This was presented on 10 June and consists of a raft of horizontal proposals focusing on areas such as skills development, mutual recognition of qualifications, support for education and vocational training, as well as for higher education (see EUROPE 11561). Ministers will also adopt a political agreement on the skills guarantee, which they have renamed “Skills upgrade: new perspectives for adults”. This seeks to increase visibility and simplification. At an unofficial level, this name change could be a way of responding to concerns expressed by certain countries and the Employment Committee. In October 2016, this committee and ministers from France and Luxembourg said that the title could lead to “expectations that were much too high, particularly because of the lack of resources currently available to enable us to meet these expectations”. The document calls on the Commission to support skills development through European Structural and Investment Funds, as well as Erasmus+.
Ministers will adopt two sets of conclusions for the other subjects: the first will focus on the promotion of new approaches to socio-educational work, which will advocate innovative tools at a level of socio-educational practices. They will also highlight the need to take into account new frameworks in which young people evolve, such as, for example, modern urban infrastructures and virtual space. The second series of conclusions encourages “soft” preventive measures (such as education, voluntary and cultural work, as well as socio-educational work) in an effort to prevent radicalisation that can lead to violent extremism.
There will also be two orientation debates during the day: ministers will look at ways of reconciling young people with the European project and how to evaluate and help different talents develop.
During a miscellaneous session, France will present its pilot project on a European student map and Malta will present the main guidelines for its work programme during its presidency of the EU. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)