Towards a European educational area

Abstract

When negotiating the new educational programmes the Council and the Commission of the EC had to deal with a profound controversy as to whether or not the programmes should aim for the creation of a European educational area. This reflects the question of whether the Community can work towards some sort of unification of the different educational systems of the Member States. As the Treaty of the European Community prohibits any harmonisation in this field the European institutions can only work towards a growing closer of the different systems by encouraging the Member States and the educational and training institutions to go this way. Such an outcome can be fostered by the legal framework protecting the individual rights of non discrimination and of free movement of workers and of services as well as of establishment on the one side and by indirectly effective and not binding measures on the other side. This influence can be achieved by the European education programmes, the common efforts to face the challenges of the knowledge society and the global competition, the incentives to ameliorate the quality of education and training and to improve the individual employability. However, harmonisation will mean losing the richness of European diversity. Instead of unifying the systems transparency and mutual recognition of individual qualifications could lead to the desired European dimension without endangering the cultural backgrounds and the responsibility of the Member States for education and training.