The EU27 ministers for education, youth, culture and sport will be meeting in Brussels on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 May. They will discuss issues including disinformation affecting young people, the creation of a European diploma, the EU’s future ‘Cultural Compass’, better integration of sport and physical activity in education, and the role of athletes in developing policies to promote sport.
Protecting young people from online threats. The session will open with a discussion on how to respond to the challenges of disinformation and manipulation online, as well as online harassment and threats targeting young Europeans.
These issues are among the priorities of the Polish Presidency, which is making the fight against disinformation a pillar of its youth agenda.
The ministers will also be asked to adopt conclusions on ‘a youth community based on European values’ to promote social and democratic cohesion within the EU.
A resolution will be approved to rethink the governance of the EU’s Youth Dialogue, which will be reviewed and needs to be improved to ensure that the voice of young people is heard more in European decision-making.
This session will draw on the results of the Lublin conference (March 2025) and on the findings of the 2024 report on the situation of young people in the EU. According to this report, 70% of young people aged between 15 and 24 say they vote regularly, and almost 60% have confidence in the European institutions (see EUROPE 13627/24).
Towards a common diploma. On the afternoon of Monday 12 May, the European education ministers are due to adopt a recommendation for a ‘European quality assurance and mutual recognition system’ in higher education, the aim of which is to simplify the recognition of diplomas and guarantee common standards across the EU.
They will also adopt a resolution on a ‘common European diploma label’ (see EUROPE 13636/32), which is a first step towards the creation of a potential common European diploma. The Commission has been supporting this objective for several years, notably in its Communication of 27 March 2023.
Union of skills. The ministers will discuss the role of this initiative, launched on 5 March (see EUROPE 13593/18). The aim will be to better understand the coordination between education systems and the needs of the labour market.
Conclusions will also be adopted on ‘learner-centred inclusive school practices in early childhood education and care and in school education’.
Finally, the use of smartphones in schools will be discussed. Information will be shared by Austria, Italy and Sweden.
The ministers will also discuss the contribution of education to raising awareness about totalitarian regimes and strengthening Europe’s democratic resilience. The follow-up to the G7 ministerial meeting on education will be discussed, one year after it was held.
A roadmap for culture. On the morning of Tuesday 13 May, the ministers of culture will discuss the future ‘Cultural Compass’, a new European strategic framework designed to make culture a more important dimension of European policies.
This means integrating culture into the fields of inclusion, climate, health and artificial intelligence.
“Culture is more than just ‘soft power’. It is our security infrastructure”, stated the Polish Minister of Culture, Hanna Wróblewska, at the end of the informal ministerial meeting on 8 April. The European Commissioner for Culture, Glenn Micallef, confirmed at the time that the initiative would be published later in the year (see EUROPE 13617/7).
The ministers will also adopt conclusions on support for young artists and professionals in the creative sectors, as well as on the evaluation of the legal framework for audiovisual media services and video-sharing platforms, in preparation for the revision of the AVMS Directive, expected in 2026.
Integrating sport into education systems. On Tuesday afternoon, Europe’s sports ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on the integration of sport and physical activity into education systems, in order to capitalise on sport as a lever for public health, social cohesion and ‘values’ education.
A policy debate will be held on the role of athletes in shaping sports policies, ahead of the Milano Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2026. Volunteering, sports governance and the social dimension of major events will be the main issues addressed.
Ukraine. The ministers will also discuss the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the Ukrainian sports sector, in the presence of the Ukrainian minister and deputy minister. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)