In the frame of the Lisbon strategy, the Member States have jointly agreed on setting up common goals in the field of education. The "European and Training 2010" work programme defines these objectives to be reached until 2010. The work programme integrates previous actions in the fields of education and training at the European level, including vocational education and training under the Copenhagen Process and links up to the Bologna Process, which is crucial in the development of the European Higher Education Area.
The Council and the Commission publish a joint report on the overall progress made towards the objectives every two years. The Commission also annually publishes a detailed report analysing the progress made by means of an agreed set of statistical indicators and benchmarks.
The latest update of the strategic vision was released in December 2008
A number of initiatives are being developed to support European citizens, learning providers, companies, guidance counsellors and educational authorities and allow them to fully exploit the potential of the European Lifelong Learning Area and the EU-wide labour market.
For example, the European Qualification Framework (EQF) should facilitate occupational and geographical mobility and lifelong learning. The aim is to enable individuals and employers to use the EQF as a reference tool to compare the qualification levels of different countries and different education and training systems, like, for example vocational training and higher education.
Yet another instrument to help reaching the objectives of the Lisbon strategy, the European Education Programmes are meant to implement the concepts developed at the policy level.