Brussels, 29/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - At the Ministerial Conference of Milan on "The development of human capital of social inclusion and competitiveness" (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.15), Commissioner Viviane Reding stated that the EU is suffering from under-investment in human resources, in both the public and private sectors. She said that public investment in education is at 5% of GDP in the Union, varying greatly from one Member State to another, a figure- similar to that of the United States but higher than Japan's- which has not increased over the last few years, and has even fallen in certain countries. "The investments we make in human resources today will bring the fruit of growth tomorrow", she said, referring to research showing that an increase in the average level of education of the population translates into an increase in productivity of 4 to 6% in the short term and a further 3% in the long term.
Ms Reding believes that greater investment is vital. "The main thing is for each country to identify its inefficiency zones and sort them out", stressed the Commissioner. For better investment, she says, we must also "implement a coherent policy for human resources development together with other areas of action, be it employment, research, enterprise policy, social inclusion, or economy and finance". This policy "should also involve all concerned, including civil society and the social partners", said Ms Reding, who called for the reinforcement of co-operation at European level in matters of human capital, "making full use of the potential of the open method of co-ordination".
Ms Reding also announced that a "draft interim report" would be presented at the Education Council of 24 and 25 November in Brussels, which will be the basis of a joint Commission and Council document, which will be submitted at the Spring European Council of March 2004. As part of the integrated approach to education and training policies, this report will also cover aspects related to education and life-long learning and the follow-up to the Copenhagen declaration.