Croatia took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in January, in a crucial period for the finetuning of Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe Programmes currently on hold given the ongoing negotiations around the EU’s long-term budget, officially known as Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (MFF). The four priorities of the Croatian presidency in the area of EDUCATION & TRAINING are the following:

  1. To increase the role of education and training in the European semester (a cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination within the EU). One tangible outcome – the Resolution on Education and Training – is planned to be adopted in February 2020.
  2. Balanced mobility and brain circulation as a precondition for cohesion: “Talents are spread equally but opportunities are not” stated Croatian Minister for Science and Education, Blaženka Divjak, in a Culture & Education Committee Meeting  in the European Parliament.
  3. European teachers and trainers for the future with a focus on innovative pedagogies and digital technologies at all levels. The expected result are Council’s Conclusions for European teachers and Trainers for the Future, planned to be adopted in May 2020.
  4. The initially panned proposal for the new post-2020 Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET2030) should be published in the second half of 2020 and, therefore, the German presidency will likely take over the discussions. What will be presented by the EC during the Croatian Presidency is the updated “Skills Agenda for Europe”, which will include the proposal for a new Recommendation on Vocational Education and Training, to be adopted most probably in May 2020.

Find more information at the presidency’s link here.

Source: ACA Newletter (Issue 225,  January 2020)