The rollout of the European Education Area initiatives is progressing, but the achievements of all its targets by 2025 remains a challenge.
The European Education Area (EEA) is the EU’s main framework for policies and targets in the field of education. The ambition of the EEA is high, as the European Commission (EC) aims to establish the area already by 2025. In 2019, EC President Ursula von der Leyen declared her commitment to “bring down barriers to learning and improve access to quality education” and “to enable learners to move more easily between education systems in different countries”. This foundation of the EEA was subsequently set out in more detail in the 2020 EC Communication on the EEA, endorsed by the Council of the EU in 2021.
As half-time in the work towards the establishment of the EEA was reached this year, the Commission published a progress report on 18 November 2022. The report provides an overview and takes stock of the implementation of the initiatives on EU level in the field of education and training, and also looks at the progress towards the specific EEA targets. However, this report does not constitute an evaluation or review of the EEA: The 2022 Education and Training Monitor is a separate report that tracks the progress towards the quantitative targets, and a midterm review of the EEA will take place in 2023.
The progress report presents a mix of ‘strategic’ policy initiatives and programme actions that contribute to the achievement of the EEA. On the policy side, the report for example mentions the Council recommendations on blended learning approaches (see SwissCore article), on micro-credentials (see SwissCore article), on Pathways to school success (adopted on 28 November 2022), or the European Strategy for universities (see SwissCore article). Among the programme actions, the report highlights the Centres of Vocational Excellence (see SwissCore article), the Education for Climate Coalition, the Erasmus+ teacher academies, and of course the European Universities initiative (see SwissCore article). Adding to these existing activities, the EC will adopt six further EEA initiatives in the next year, namely: i. A Council recommendation on enabling factors for digital education, ii. A Council recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills, iii. A new European learning mobility framework, iv. An update to the European quality assurance and recognition system, v. A joint European degree label (currently being piloted), vi. A possible legal status for university alliances (currently being piloted). With these activities included, the Commission wants to shift the focus from adoption of new initiatives to their implementation. The EU Member States (MS) have a significant role to play in implementation as the competence for progressing on many of these items is national.
The Commission will continuously support MS in the implementation of the EEA initiatives. One important instrument is the funding provided by the EC. Via Erasmus+ € 26 billion are available for education and training in Europe during the years 2021-2027, with further funds from the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), Digital Europe, and the European Social Fund. However, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – set up for the COVID-19 recovery – is now the largest source of funding for education and training across the EU with estimated € 71 billion allocated specifically to national reforms and investments in education systems and skills (see SwissCore article). An expert group set up by the EC delivered a final report in this regard to support the effective use of these funds (see SwissCore article).
The progress towards the EU-level targets set in the EEA is mixed. Many indicators show a positive trend, such as reducing early school leaving (9.7% currently, with a target of 9%), increasing tertiary diplomas (41% currently, with a target of 45%), or participation in early childhood education (93% currently, with a target of 96%). However, there is a growing gender gap in tertiary attainment, and the underachievement in basic skills is persisting (22%-23% currently, with a goal of less than 15%). On top of this, there are substantial differences between the Member States. These inequalities are a significant obstacle in achieving the EEA targets in time.
In conclusion, the achievement of the EEA by 2025 is on track when it comes to the policy roll-out and the funding provided. However, the achievement of the targets and many of the initiatives depend on the implementation and the will of the Member States to go ahead in this direction. Lastly, while many of these initiatives and actions are undoubtedly strengthening the education systems across the EU, there are many other factors that contribute to or hinder the achievement of the vision of the European Education Area. It would require further analysis to show to what extent EU action impacts the educational outcomes in the Member States.
Nevertheless, the trend seems to go towards greater convergence in education within the EU, especially linked to the developments around the European universities initiative and the European degree label. This enhanced European collaboration in education remains very relevant for the Swiss education systems, as shown by the participation of Swiss higher education institutions in the European university alliances.
A final report on the EEA is expected for 2025.