European Education Ministers are due to meet on Thursday 20 February, in the margins of the European Council, on the themes of brain circulation, ecological transition and ways of improving the education system in Europe. A meeting that should last only 3 hours.
Brain circulation is one of the two priorities of the Croatian EU Council Presidency. The Commission believes that labour mobility can bring a range of benefits, but that it can also disadvantage certain countries facing a brain drain (see EUROPE 12419/18) and therefore needs to be well managed. During an exchange of views, Zagreb intends to question the European ministers on the actions to be taken, the European universities initiative and the financing instruments.
Another debate on the EU Council's agenda will focus on education for ecology and sustainability. But it will take place in a more informal format, during a working lunch away from the cameras.
Ministers will also be invited to adopt an EU Council resolution on education and training as part of the 'European Semester' budget process. The draft document underlines that "further and renewed efforts will be needed", in particular in education for 15-year-olds and adult learning, i.e. the 'Education and Training 2020' benchmarks. This is all the more so as the latest PISA study has highlighted that the proportion of people with insufficient mastery of reading (21.7%), mathematics (22.4%) and science (21.6%) remains high in Europe, far behind the corresponding targets set by the EU. The draft text therefore suggests that the Commission accompany the Education and Training Monitor report with a Communication "to serve as a basis for preparing the EU Council's political messages on the most important issues identified in the Monitor report". See the draft resolution: https://bit.ly/2Ph4Idp (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)