Austria will take the reins of the Council of the EU for the second half of 2018 and is planning to make progress on an agenda for a protective Europe.
The presidency’s motto is ‘bring the European idea closer to the citizen,’ Austrian education, science and research minister Heinz Fassmann told us on Wednesday 6 June when the Austrian government came to Brussels.
‘A Europe that protects: protects from crime, terrorism, irregular migration flows, in the meaning of defending and protecting against declining welfare or income.’
Priority for Erasmus+. In terms of education, Vienna wants to give priority to the Erasmus + programme, as the European Commission suggested at the end of May to double the funds allocated to the Erasmus + mobility programme for the period 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12030).
Praised for its dual apprenticeship training, Austria is not planning to organise conferences or informal ministerial meetings on education. Just one official meeting is scheduled at this stage, the ‘Education, Youth, Culture and Sport’ Council in Brussels on 26 and 27 November.
The future Erasmus+ programme will be at the heart of that meeting. ‘I think its possible because the change is not significant. In Erasmus, it’s mainly a mobility program of trainers and young people. There is no resistance against mobility because it is clear it can contribute to a good atmosphere,’ said the minister, saying he was ‘optimistic.’
Fassmann welcomed the amount suggested for the future programme, but refused to comment on where the money would come from. ‘I am not answering the question on how we can finance this doubling. This is not my task to say how to do it.’ His job, he explained, was to represent the interests of research and education and in that sense, he was happy with the proposal to double the budget.
On future cooperation with the United Kingdom when it leaves the EU, he said it was in both sides’ interest to continue cooperating: ‘There should be a strong and intensive negotiations to have something afterwards. There is an interest on both sides.’
No conclusions planned
The future Austrian Presidency of the Council will try to reach agreement on the draft recommendation on mutual recognition of diplomas and periods of apprenticeship abroad (see EUROPE 12024).
This initiative sets out the conditions for automatic recognition and existing EU tools, such as the European system for the transfer and accumulation of credits and the European certification framework.
‘We might perhaps discuss European universities, which Austria supports.’ commented Fassmann in this regard.
The recommendations on early childhood and language learning are not part of the Austrian Presidency’s work programme. The minister’s circle tells us that they will be left for the Romanian presidency unless progress is faster than planned.
The Austrian Permanent Representation will increase its staff numbers by a third in the second half of 2018 to deal with the extra work involved in running the six-monthly presidency of the Council. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)