On Wednesday 16 July, the Danish Ministers for Children and Education, Mattias Tesfaye, and for Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, presented the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the coming six months to MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education.
As Mattias Tesfaye pointed out, Denmark’s main objectives will be to raise the profile of vocational training, promote learner mobility and adapt education systems to the digital age.
He spoke of the importance of “making education and vocational training more attractive” in the face of labour shortages, and announced that the informal meeting of ministers would adopt a “new declaration on vocational training as part of the Copenhagen process”.
With regard to the Erasmus+ programme, the minister stated that it was an “absolute priority” and that he intended to “do (his) best to promote this issue”.
He also stressed that “this must not be an elitist programme” and that “it is important that young people from all over Europe and from different backgrounds have the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures”.
In September, a conference in Copenhagen will bring together young people from all over Europe to define the guidelines for the next generation of the Erasmus+ programme.
When it comes to digital issues relating to education, young people’s well-being and child protection, Mattias Tesfayes said that there needs to be a good balance between digital tools and traditional teaching methods.
The minister added that his country was “absolutely in favour of greater protection for children online”.
Jakob Engel-Schmidt spoke of the role of culture, the media and sport in strengthening democratic institutions and values in the face of external threats.
He stressed the need for “copyright regulations that evolve in line with technological progress”, particularly in the face of artificial intelligence and ‘deepfakes’.
He called for AI not to be able to “photocopy an artist” without consent, and said he wanted to “lay the foundations for good regulation in this area” at European level. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)