Education from the Perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy: the Case of Southern Countries of the European Union

Abstract

IntroductionUntil recently, the question of economy's competitiveness was covered by the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, the primary target of which was, that the European Union should become until 2010 the most competitive and most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth in which there will be more and better jobs and greater social cohesion (Ministry of Finance SR, 2005). In 2010 the Lisbon Strategy was successed by a new strategy developed by the European Commission and called Europe 2020. As in the Lisbon Strategy, also in Europe 2020, the European Commission identified key targets the fulfilment of which, until the year 2020, will contribute to the desired growth and progress in individual Member States, as well as in the European Union overall. The Strategy includes the five following targets (European Commission, 2010):* Employment - 75% of the 20-64 year-olds should be employed;* RD* Climate change/energy - this objective includes three sub-objectives: greenhouse gas emissions should be 20% (or even 30%, if the conditions are right) lower than in 1990; 20% of energy should be from renewable; energy efficiency should increase by about 20%;* Education - this objective includes two sub-objectives expressed by two indicators, namely the rate of early school leavers and population with tertiary education. The first indicator concerns the reduction of early leaving education rate and training of population aged 18 to 24 years below 10%. The second indicator expresses the increase of the population aged 30-34 years who have completed tertiary education for the minimum of 40% in this age group;* Poverty/social exclusion - in the European Union there should be at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion.The fourth target concerning education isin the focus of our analysis here. Every year, 6 million young Europeans leave school with at best lower secondary education. This currently represents 14% of the 18-24-year-olds, which in turn fuels high levels of youth unemployment (European Commission, 2014b). This is why the European Commission is trying to reduce the number of early school leavers and increase the number of people with tertiary education. The southern countries of the European Union belong according to the most actual Eurostat data among the countries with the highest rate of youth unemployment.In this paper we will analyse the current state of achieving the established targets with the emphasis on the southern countries of the European Union and explore by using regression analysis the estimated development of the related indicators untill 2020.1. Theoretical FrameworkThe Europe 2020 presents an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to guide the EU out of the economic crisis, to ensure macroeconomic stability and to put in place an ambitious structural reform agenda. An essential part of this strategy is the introduction of reforms with a medium - term to long - term horizon that focus on promoting the sustainability of public finances, enhancing potential growth and realising the 2020 objectives (Hobza & Mourre, 2010).Relevance of defined objectives is criticized and their interconnectedness is being discussed. Feasibility of achieving the objectives is a basic issue for the successful fulfillment of the objectives. This issue is solved by Colak and Ege (2013), but also by Leschke, Theodoropoulou, Watt (2012). Roth and Thum (2010) pointed out that the objectives in the area of education are very ambitious and almost impossible to fulfill in a given time horizont.Despite numerous critics, the Europe 2020 was adopted and implemented at the national level. Attention and efforts should therefore focus on fulfillment the objectives at the national level.It is important that European policy-makers understand that the quantity and quality of education will play a key role in maintaining European competitiveness. …