ESU reinforces education message before EU 2020 summit

ESU have handed over 22 signed EU 2020 policy statements from ESU member unions to representatives from the cabinet of Herman Van Rompuy, The EU Council President. – We all agree that education is interlinked with the flagship initiatives of the EU 2020 strategy. You cannot have initiatives on innovation and research without having a good education policy to support these, says ESU Chairperson-elect Bert Vandenkendelaere.

Current ESU Chairperson Ligia Deca and Vandenkendelaere have, along with the rest of the ESU team, worked hard on giving input from the students to the EU’s work on the strategy. At the Board Meeting 57 in May, ESU’s members adopted a statement to the Council of Ministers before the summit on June 17, where the strategy will be adopted.

One of the key messages is a demand that the proposed benchmarks on raising the level of tertiary education to 40 % and reducing the number of European citizens living below the poverty line by 25 % are adopted in the EU 2020 strategy.