YES Europe
Written by Ryan Mercer – a Policy Development Intern at NIACE with a particular interest in European Union Policy. Ryan graduated from the University of Leicester in 2012 with a BA (Hons) Ancient History and History.
The European Institutions are currently debating the multi-annual budget for the next 7 years leading up to 2020. NIACE’s highly successful Learning for a Better World conference recently addressed the UK’s contribution to the EU Agenda for Adult Learning, to help meet the Europe 2020 goals for participation in education. As well as the EU Agenda, spending by the EU directly on adult education is a crucial part of achieving these goals.
2013 marks the final year of the European Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP). The LLP cost €7 Billion and was made up of six programmes Erasmus (High Education), Leonardo (Vocational), Comenius (Schools), Grundtvig (Adult Education), Transversal (mobility) and Jean Monnet (Integration). The majority of the funding was spent on the Erasmus and Leonardo programmes, which offered exchanges for students and trainees across Europe.
The EU is currently in discussions over the LLP’s replacement for 2014 known as ‘YES Europe’ (formerly ‘Erasmus for All’). YES stands for Youth, Education and training, Sport; reflecting an increased focus on young people prompted by the high youth unemployment rate in many EU countries. The package of proposals will include the programmes of the LLP, along with others to create a single extensive programme for employability, skills and mobility. While the funding is likely to work out greater than the LLP, the exact figures are still to be determined.
If targets for Europe 2020 are to be met and the deepening social crisis across Europe is to be tackled, then, as the commission recognises in its proposals, greater investment in human capital is necessary.
However, concerns have been raised in the field over the initial proposals by the commission, particularly over the lack of a role for civil society organisations and the limited size of the budget initially earmarked for adult learning. MEPs on the Committee for Culture and Education made a number of amendments back in November 2012 addressing these concerns including assigning 6% of the programme’s budget to adult learning (which should amount to a significant increase over current EU spending). They also stress the important role that civil society organisations can play in shaping policy and delivering learning programmes.
The trilogue meetings that are currently taking place between the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the European Union are negotiating the final shape of the package of proposals. The decision is set to have a significant impact on adult learning across Europe and is being watched with great interest.
