Brussels, 21/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - Youth mobility was the last point on the agenda of the Education Council on Friday 21 November, which adopted conclusions on the matter. “These conclusions are ambitious as they correspond to a commitment on the part of member states to ensure that every young person has access to mobility”, stressed the French minister for higher education and research, Valérie Pécresse, who chaired the debate. “It is urgent”, she went on, saying that young people lacked the desire for mobility. “It is no longer enough to tell them it is useful. You have to demonstrate it to them, figures in hand (…). Mobility is no longer the rule but the exception”, she went on, deploring the fact that only 4% of students today have a CV showing stays abroad for academic or professional reasons. “It is an ambitious vision of the future”, went on Education Commissioner Jan Figel. Speaking of the reticence caused by the Erasmus programme when it was first adopted, the commissioner stressed that it has now become a success that should continue.
The aim of the conclusions is to make mobility democratic and nothing exceptional. Youth mobility is an important tool for forging the feeling of European belonging, promoting vocational insertion and ensuring competitiveness of the European economy, the Council stresses, identifying three obstacles to mobility: linguistic or cultural barriers, too much uncertainty about when this period of mobility will bring benefits, and insufficient resources. Ministers recommend better information in schools, simplified procedures and diversified financing sources. Finally, the Council invites the Commission to establish a plan of work for integrating action in favour of crossborder mobility in all European programmes and for examining the feasibility of developing new financial means for periods of mobility at the end of study, including the possibility of European student loans. (I.L./transl.jl)