Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU outlines education and research priorities

At the beginning of January, Ireland took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Cyprus. Outlining Ireland’s education priorities for the EU Presidency Ireland’s Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. said: “Ensuring sustainable growth and jobs is the main theme of Ireland’s EU Presidency, and education and training have a key role to play in this and in tackling the unemployment crisis.”
The Irish Presidency said it had identified the following ‘legislative priorities’ for education during the course of the Presidency:

• Regulation establishing “Erasmus for All”
• New Directive to amend Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications
• Regulation on the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
• Decision on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) & Regulation amending 2008 Regulation which established the EIT

In terms of priority topics, the Presidency said there would be a focus on the social dimension of higher education. National Qualification Frameworks and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) would also be another priority area. In addition to a Presidency conference on ‘quality assurance in qualifications frameworks’, there would also be a focus on how employment sector actors are engaged in quality assurance and on quality assuring learning outcomes in relation to the needs of the labour market. The Presidency programme also highlights that the Commission’s recent communication on ‘Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes’ will “inform consideration of wider education reform’s”. The adoption of Council conclusions responding to the Communication would be proposed for the February 2013 Education Council. In terms of Research and Innovation, the Presidency’s programme outlines that it is aiming for agreement on Horizon 2020, the EU programme for research and innovation (within the context of overall agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework). In addition to an agreement on the two dossiers that make up the EIT proposal, it said it would attach strong importance to the European Research Area. Reflecting the “priority attached to boosting the Union’s innovation capacities”, the Presidency said it would host a number of conferences in Dublin in  2013 aimed at supporting this objective. Innovation would also be one of the main topics of the informal Competitiveness Council. Download the Irish Presidency Programme here.