Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-25-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20040225.5.3-044"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen of the European Parliament, I am pleased to be able to take part in this plenary sitting along with my colleague Pedro Solbes. The presence of both of us here is highly symbolic, because it signals that the Lisbon strategy is not based solely on economics and finance – although these clearly remain absolutely essential elements – but that crucial importance is also attached to its social and human dimensions. Who can overlook, for example, the fact that almost 20% of young Europeans leave the education and training systems without any qualifications? Who could fail to be concerned by the social exclusion to which some of our population are condemned? How can we respond to the growing need of individuals for lifelong learning that will enable them to keep working or to play an active part in the life of our societies? As I have often said, human resources are the prize asset of the Union, provided we can derive maximum benefit from them. But without high-quality education and training, it is illusory to imagine that we shall achieve our objectives in terms of growth, employment and social cohesion. The fact is that our economic potential hinges on our human capital. Experts have calculated, for example, that an increase of one year in an average person’s period of study would translate into a productivity gain of more than 6%. We are also aware that education is a key factor in civic and social integration. Ladies and gentlemen, the construction of the edifice for which the plans were drawn up in Lisbon must begin with the laying of solid foundations on the bedrock of education and training.
Community action through programmes as well as through political cooperation therefore helps to achieve three fundamental objectives: to make the European construction process and European citizenship tangible and visible, to develop the European dimension of education and training and to support efforts to improve the quality of our education and training systems. Our action at the European level is essential if we want to achieve our economic and social objectives. In this context, in the month of March I shall be presenting to the College of Commissioners a communication on the new generation of programmes for the period from 2007 to 2013. The aim of this communication will be to make education and training a reality for everyone. It will set out the main thrust and the priority measures of the new generation of education programmes. A formal proposal should be presented before the summer. This means, ladies and gentlemen, that we shall have time to discuss it. Given your track record in this field, however, I am already confident that I can count on your support.
The spring report that the Commission adopted a month ago contains the observation that, despite some encouraging progress in a number of areas, the Union is still far short of the targets it has set itself. There are several reasons for this, foremost among which are excessive fragmentation of the internal market and sluggish transposition of the guidelines adopted within the framework of the Lisbon strategy. My colleague Mr Solbes has referred to these points.
An equally important reason for our shortcomings is the lack of investment in knowledge, whether in education and training or in research and innovation. In Lisbon, the Member States undertook to increase significantly the level of investment in human resources. But what is actually happening? Public investment in education, measured as a percentage of GDP, has made little or no headway and is even declining in some Member States. Moreover, private investment in education, especially higher education, is far from adequate in Europe when judged against the standards set by our competitors. Private-sector expenditure on education is four times as high in the United States and twice as high in Japan as it is here in Europe.
The same applies to research, where there is an alarming brain drain from the European Union to the United States. If we want to become a knowledge-based economy, the fact is that we shall have to generate fresh momentum, one of the key components of which must be research. Indeed, without public and private investment in research, the economy of the Union will stagnate, deprived of its motive force, which is knowledge. This is precisely why the encouragement of investment in research was placed at the heart of the Lisbon strategy.
April 2003 saw the adoption, after broad consultation, of the communication entitled
which identifies measures designed to increase the average level of investment from the present rate of 1.9% of GDP to 3% by the year 2010, with two thirds of all investment coming from the private sector. This 3% action plan comprises four main sets of measures: supporting the steps taken by European countries and stakeholders and ensuring that they are mutually consistent, considerably improving public support for research and technological innovation, increasing the levels of public funding for research and, lastly, improving the climate for research and technological innovation in Europe. These are not easy tasks by any means. The success of this action plan will depend on resolute and concerted efforts on the part of the Member States and the private sector. But we must face the fact that today’s investments are tomorrow’s growth, productivity and employment.
It is also imperative to step up the efforts to modernise our education and training systems and equip them to meet the needs of a knowledge-based society. These are matters that the Commission and the Member States have taken very seriously. In February 2002, we agreed on a programme of work designed to make our education and training systems an international standard of excellence by 2010. The Education Ministers have also adopted European benchmarks in five key areas, such as basic skills and lifelong learning. In addition, the Copenhagen Declaration of 2002 initiated the process of European cooperation in the field of vocational training. The first concrete results have emerged, such as the Europass and the work on the recognition of informal training. In November 2003, the Commission presented an interim report on the implementation of the programme of work, and in this report I sounded the alarm by stating that, unless the pace of reform quickened, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the objectives we have set for our education and training systems – not only these but also the objectives of the Lisbon strategy in its entirety, which is a far more worrying thought. Deficits in education and training, after all, lead almost automatically to economic slippage and social problems.
On the basis of these observations, a joint report has been prepared with the Member States and will be discussed tomorrow by the Council of Education Ministers with a view to submission to the European Council for its Spring Summit. This report identifies several priority areas for action. The first of these is investment in human resources, where there is a need for more investment, but also wiser investment, and for the mobilisation of the private sector, particularly for investment in higher education and vocational training. The next priority is the adoption by the Member States of genuine strategies for the promotion of lifelong learning, particularly among disadvantaged sections of society. Today, only one adult in ten has access to opportunities for lifelong learning. Finally, there is a need to nurture a real education and training culture in Europe, particularly through the creation of a European qualification structure.
The report also highlights the key role of universities in the knowledge-based society. While our universities possess many assets, it cannot be denied that they are confronted by fundamental challenges in an increasingly globalised and competitive environment. As a general rule, they possess fewer resources than the major American universities, for example. Since the eighties, they have also lost their status as the preferred destination of foreign students. What can be done to make our universities world-class centres of excellence? What can be done to attract the best students, researchers and lecturers? Some progress has already been made through the Bologna process, designed to promote the convergence of our systems of higher education, through the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes, which support innovation in education and training, and, more recently, through the Erasmus Mundus programme, so strongly supported by the European Parliament, for which I thank you once again. Can we declare ourselves satisfied, in this field and in others? Can we stop now? I do not think so. I believe that, at every level, we must continue our efforts and redouble them if need be.
This, indeed, is the message of the Commission’s spring report and of the interim report. The direct corollary of this message is the Commission’s proposal on the new financial perspective. On the tenth of this month, President Prodi briefed you on the background to the financial perspective and its main features. The discussions will be long and difficult, and many figures and percentages will be bandied about. But before engaging in this debate, let us first concentrate on this project of ours and on our ambitions for the period beyond 2010. As President Prodi emphasised in his address to this House, no European country can meet the challenges of globalisation on its own. The same applies to the entire Lisbon strategy, including the fields of education and training. Oh yes, I know – education and training are subject to the subsidiarity principle. And nobody is questioning that. But we have managed to made significant headway through Community action. A million Erasmus students may seem like a huge number, but they represent only two per cent of our entire student body. That is not enough. We need to go further. The same is true of trainees. And the fact that some two million pupils have been involved in our school projects may seem impressive, but this figure is not even one per cent of the total school roll for the whole of Europe. And so there is truly a need to move forward. Moreover, Community programmes, which are veritable innovation laboratories, contribute to reforms and adjustments of education systems and serve to promote the sharing of experience. The Bologna process, for example, would never have materialised without the Erasmus programme and without the growing demand among students for greater mobility."@en1
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"Investing in research: an action plan for Europe"1
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