Education and Youth

The European Union and the Council of Europe jointly declared 2001 to be the Year of Languages. Numerous events brought home the importance of acquiring a second language. At the end of the year the Council of Education Ministers adopted a resolution calling on member states to encourage children and adults to learn two or more foreign languages.

The ministers are to present a detailed programme of work to the European Council in Barcelona in March 2002. The main educational objectives are: improved teacher training, universal access to higher and further education, more emphasis on the knowledge society, universal access to information and communication technology, and expanded scientific-technical courses. The Commission issued a report on the consultation process on lifelong learning, with a view to drafting an action plan on the issue.

The Union's youth policy is to become a horizontal issue that has to be taken into account in all aspects of EU policy. To this end, the Commission published a White Book in autumn. The European Council in Laeken in December commended the contribution made by the youth policy to the cause of European integration.