The European Union can encourage and facilitate
cooperation between Member States in order to develop quality education,
however unlike in other policy area's the EU cannot harmonise any law or
regulation of the Member States. The content and organisation of education
systems and their cultural and linguistic particularities are fully in the
hands of the Member States.
There is therefore very little what EU Institutions can do in terms of
education policy. They can however encourage and facilitate voluntary
cooperation between Member States. This is why the EU Institutions carry out
the strategy of setting-up programs, instead of doing the impossible: imposing
legislation.
They encourage and facilitate cooperation between Member States by dangling a
very attractive carrot in front of the national competent authorities. Probably
the most famous example is the Erasmus program, already active since the
1980's. The European Commission states: “ERASMUS has become a driver in the modernisation
of higher education institutions and systems in Europe”.
For
my
PhD thesis, which I finished 10 years ago, I did research to find new
programs in the EU education area: today's education does not sufficiently
reflect a European dimension. The practical part of my research was done by an
NGO (
AEGEE-Europe) – a project under the
name
Eureca.
EURECA was conceived as a Campaign for European Education focusing on five main
aims:
Ø
Raising awareness for the importance of
Education for the future integration of Europe and its citizens;
Ø
Establishing a dialogue and an open exchange of
ideas (horizontal - among students of all disciplines - and vertical - between
students and decision-makers);
Ø
Underlining the role that the European Union is
playing in influencing European Education;
Ø
Paying special attention to the role that Media
can play in this issue;
Ø
Elaborating a Proposal for a New Education
Program.
Main conclusions of the research:
Ø
In the contemporary world students treat
their summer break as a vital period for personal development and learning.
We believe that setting up framework for accessible short courses, up to one
month, would bring out better cultural understanding and academic enrichment
for one’s studies. Such action will involve new technologies and offer
opportunities for students who fall out of current mobility scheme;
Ø
Open to the youth in general, not only to
students (age: 18 – 26);
Ø
Implementation via European and regional
structures, not involving the national structures;
Ø
The “mobility” should be only co-financed by an
EU program (50%), the rest is supported by the regional and local
authorities and private sector.
I proposed a “Summer Erasmus” program, a supplement to the Erasmus program,
which would complement it by enabling students to develop themselves through a
'summer university'. An example of an association already that is experienced
in carrying out summer university programs is
AEGEE-Europe.
In 2011 they had 77 participating universities, which accounted for over 2200
places. Their reach seems a bit limited, but the structures in place make a
good and strong example for a “Summer Erasmus” program.
This proposal has already been presented to the two EU Commissioners
responsible for Education (Viviane Reding in 2003 and Jan Figel in 2006), but
without success for the 2007-2013 programs.
In my view, Europe is in need of innovation, continuous development and
opportunities in the field of education. Taking the 2021-2027 'Erasmus for
All' proposal into consideration: yes, this might make the existing structures
and programs more accessible and efficient.
Dan LUCA / Brussels
