Education policy in the Europe 2020 Strategy

Briefing 25-11-2015

In 2010, the EU adopted its Europe 2020 strategy to put Member States back on track following the crisis shocks of 2008. Education was identified as one of five key areas needing specific measures to support economic recovery which could not be based exclusively on financial and budgetary reforms. The governance of the strategy rests on yearly cycles of reporting and feedback known as the European Semester. This makes it possible to monitor progress in individual Member States as a basis for recommendations from the European Commission. Supplementary thematic coordination involves both political leaders and experts in the field. Coordinated by the Council of the European Union, the mechanism is referred to as the open method of coordination. Member States are on their way towards meeting the Europe 2020 education targets: lowering the number of early school leavers to less than 10% and ensuring that at least 40% of 30-34 year olds have completеd tertiary education. However, EU citizens are not yet benefitting evenly from the positive outcomes. A closer look reveals that some regions and segments of the population fare less well than others. At the same time, employment rates have worsened in spite of improvements in the general level of education. The European Parliament has expressed its stance on these issues, indicating possible ways forward.