ESU reaction to the European Commission’s EU 2020 strategy proposal

The European Students’ Union welcomes the due attention given to education in the European Commission’s working document ahead of the drafting of the “EU 2020” strategy. ESU is, however, concerned that the document will fail to capture the essence of the strategy unless specific targets are drafted.

Below are some of the comments on central topics in ESU’s reaction to the working paper. You can read ESU’s full reaction here.
Mobility
Even though the working document presented does suggest that “all young people in Europe the possibility to spend part of their educational pathway in other Member States”, realistically speaking ESU is aware that unless such a statement will be backed up by concrete efforts by the EU member states and the set up of concrete mobility targets and indicators for measuring the progress towards them, it will not be translated into reality.

Changing skills
In a rapidly changing environment, the changing skills needs of the economy and society are difficult to predict with a high degree of certainty. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify trends which will assist us in making informed policy decisions. There are also core sets of skills that are to be maintained and constantly developed over generations, especially when it comes to personal development and active citizenship.Public investment in education
Voicing the concern of its member unions, ESU draws the attention of member states towards the need of further public investment in tertiary education that mirrors the investment in primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education. The reforms proposed in the EU 2020 strategy ought to be linked with radical reforms to financing of higher education to ensure that Higher Education systems are not dependent on fluctuating public funding but have a constant flow of financial resources that lead to an enhanced learning experience of the student.

For more information, please contact the ESU Executive Committee on ec2009@esu-online.org