The Post-2010 Lisbon Process: The Key Role of Education in Employment and Competitiveness

Abstract

This paper points out that education should be the central objective of the post-2010 Lisbon Process. Compared to other OECD countries, the member states of the European Union perform poorly when it comes to key indicators of innovative potential, such as the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education and the educational quality of Europe’s students. Education makes a three-fold contribution to a country’s economic health. First it is beneficial for employment rates, second it is a key driver for long-term economic growth and third it appears to be beneficial for social cohesion. It will be crucial for European countries to attain higher levels of tertiary education and increase the quality of their education. CEPS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within CEPS research programmes and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. This paper was originally commissioned and published by the Austrian Bundesministerium fur Wirtschaft und Arbeit. It is republished here as a CEPS Working Document with their kind permission. The views expressed represent exclusively the positions of the authors and do not necessarily correspond to those of CEPS or the Austrian Bundesministerium fur Wirtschaft und Arbeit. This publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form for non-profit purposes only and on condition that the source is fully acknowledged.