The Role of European Personalities in Building Cooperation in the Field of Education

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze the importance of the efforts made by different personalities, starting with the second half of the twentieth century, in order to broaden the exchange of ideas and best practices in the field of vocational education and training. The great personalities played an essential role in building and relaunching a Europe of nations, but also a Community Europe. These visionaries, with significant functions at the level of their country, but also at European level, have contributed to the configuration of common directions of action regarding education. The Parents of Europe, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman laid the foundations for economic cooperation at European level between states in the 1950s. Continuing the political construction of the community edifice was the mission of European leaders Franis Mitterand and Helmuth Kohl. The two protagonists are also due to the beginnings of the collaboration on education through the conclusion of bilateral agreements. The leaders understood that a political union between states would not be possible without achieving a cultural, linguistic, or educational union. Jacques Delors was President of the Commission of the European Communities between 1985 and 1995 and President of the International Commission for Education for the 21st century. In this capacity, he demonstrated that educational policies should aim to build a world based on mutual support. Any project of international cooperation must be based on common values and a common destiny. The European Commission through the Directorate General for Education, Culture was able to initiate educational programs that were approved by the Member States and subsequently ensured the mobility of pupils, students and qualified teachers from across the Union. Actions and steps taken over time by different personalities have demonstrated that in a global world, education is the key factor, and lifelong learning, supplemented by new programs and actions in the field of education, training and youth play an overwhelming role in building a Europe of citizens.