§ Mr. HoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the outcome was of the Employment and Youth Council held in Brussels on 12 February; and if he will make a statement. [150525]
§ Mr. WicksNicol Stephen MSP, Minister for Higher Education, represented the UK at the Council of EU Education Ministers in Brussels on 12 February.
Education Ministers adopted a report on the concrete future objectives of education and training systems, which will be presented to the Stockholm European Council on 23 and 24 March. The report will also be submitted to the European Parliament for information. There will be a discussion about the work programme arising from the report at the next Education Council meeting in May.
There was a discussion on strategies for lifelong learning, which included consideration of the Commission's memorandum on lifelong learning and the implementation of the lifelong learning aspects of the 2001 employment guidelines. It was noted that member states were currently in the process of undertaking national consultations on the memorandum on lifelong learning and that the Commission will draw up an action plan, based on the responses from member states, for discussion by the Council on 29 November.
Ministers received reports from the Commission on: the evaluation report on the first phase of the Community action programme, Leonardo da Vinci; progress on the European Year of Languages 2001; and the opening of the third phase of the trans-European co-operation scheme for higher education (Tempus III) to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Presidency also provided information on the informal conference of Ministers of Education and Research, which will take place in Uppsala on 1–3 March.