26/04/2019 (Agence Europe) – Europe is on track to meet its two main education targets for 2020 (EUROPE 2020), with higher education graduates among 30-34 year olds to at least 40% and school drop-outs at less than 10%. However, a new Eurostat survey published on 26 April shows significant disparities between Member States. On the first objective, the highest proportion of higher education graduates is found in Lithuania and Cyprus, the lowest in Romania and Italy. A total of 11 Member States failed to meet their national targets, namely Ireland, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Slovakia, Germany, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Portugal and Romania. On the second objective, early leaving from school, the EU is only 0.6 percentage points below its target, while half of the Member States have not yet reached their national targets (Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta and Spain). (SPj)