Brussels, 21/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - French Prime Minister François Fillon set out the higher education priorities of the future French presidency of the EU in the second half of 2008 at the Sorbonne on Friday 14 December. He had invited the presidents of the 34 National Rectors Conferences of the European University Association (EUA), to debate how universities could contribute to the development of European society and the labour market.
Discussion focused on the growing diversity of student populations and the role of the universities in recognising qualifications, whether university, vocational or experience-based. There was also debate on the effect of increased student and worker mobility and the need for agreement on how best to ensure that the experience and vocational qualifications obtained in one country or a specific sector would be recognised in the others. “The impact of future changes means we have to be ever more demanding in terms of knowledge and training. Universities are central to this challenge,” he noted. He said that “there is still some way to go in bringing university training and vocational qualifications more in line with one another”. To set the universities on the right track, Fillon asked UEA President Georg Winckler to establish a Lifelong Learning Charter for Europe's universities. Winckler welcomed the French proposal. “This proposal could not be more timely and the EUA will be focusing on the development of the lifelong learning missions of universities in a number of activities over the years to come, but in particular in our autumn conference in 2008 in the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I promise that we will use this major European event to discuss and develop the charter, and to ensure that it is supported by our member universities,” he said. (I.L.)