The European Students’ Union at the First European Education Summit

Our President Helge Schwitters and Vice Presidents, Caroline Sundberg and Adam Gajek represented ESU, as participants at the first European Education Summit. The event was hosted by Tibor Navracsics, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, on 25 January 2018, in Brussels.

EU education ministers, education practitioners, stakeholders and business leaders discussed inequality in education systems and how education can help transmit our common values and competencies for the future.

The summit seeked to “lay the foundations for a European Education Area.” Nonetheless, the lack of student organisations in the panels was striking as well as the lack of space to react on the proposals and be fully consulted on the proceedings.

“We have witnessed a worrying trend of non-consultation before the Gothenburg Summit and before the First European Education Summit regarding the creation of an European Education Area (EEA). We still do not have the full picture of the purpose of its existence and competencies or how it will affect European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Despite its problems, we are against, limiting EHEA to EU countries only. We are far from close to set the expiry date for the Bologna Process, even if we do agree on the need of new muscles which does not equal abolishing what we already have” says Caroline Sundberg, Vice President of the European Students’ Union.