HC Deb 26 February 2002 vol 380 cc1223-4W
Mr. Connarty

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the outcome was of the Education and Youth Council held in Brussels on 14 February; what the Government's position was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement. [37298]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

I represented the UK at the Education and Youth Council on 14 February.

The Council adopted a detailed work programme, setting out priority areas in educational policy for exchanging good practice and co-operative working between member states. The priorities follow on from the report on "Concrete Future Objectives of Education and Training Systems" presented to the Stockholm European Council in March 2001. The detailed work programme was adopted with little debate, and will be presented to the Barcelona European Council in March 2002.

The Council received information from the Commission on: its communication to the Barcelona European Council `The Lisbon Strategy—making change happen'; its newly-published action plan on skills and mobility; and its proposal to extend the TEMPUS programme to include countries that border the Mediterranean.

The Council discussed the Commission's communication on "Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning". The UK supported the communication's practical proposals, and its commitment to maintaining the focus on the goals agreed at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000. I stressed the need to ensure coherence between the various strands of European level work in this area in order to support member states effectively in developing their lifelong learning policies.

The Council debated the Commission's white paper "A new impetus for European Youth" and adopted conclusions that stress the need to include the youth dimension in national and European policies, the need to reach out and include young people, and the need to ensure that co-operation at European level is flexible and respects national diversity. The UK emphasised the need to clarify the processes for taking forward this work at European level. We recognise the benefits of learning from other countries in this area and the need to include and consult all young people, including the most disengaged, to ensure that relevant policies meet their needs and aspirations as far as possible.

A copy of the council minutes will be placed in the Library in due course.