European Parliament

2014-2019

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<Commission>{CULT}Committee on Culture and Education</Commission>


<RefProc>2018/2034(INI)</RefProc>

<Date>{15/05/2018}15.5.2018</Date>

<TitreType>DRAFT OPINION</TitreType>

<CommissionResp>of the Committee on Culture and Education</CommissionResp>

<CommissionInt>for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs</CommissionInt>

<Titre>on employment and social policies of the euro area</Titre>

<DocRef>(2018/2034(INI))</DocRef>

Rapporteur for opinion: <Depute>Nikolaos Chountis</Depute>



PA_NonLeg

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, as
the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a
resolution:

1.       Notes with concern the persistent socio-economic disparities in the euro area; believes
that equal access to inclusive and quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for
everyone is a precondition for socio-economic convergence; points, in this regard, to the
persistent disparities across Member States and social groups with respect to the EU’s headline
education indicators;

2.       Is deeply concerned that, in the EU28, the average rate of general government expenditure
on education as a percentage of GDP fell year-on-year from 2009 to 2016[1]; regrets that the
education sector has been severely hit by austerity and stresses that well-resourced public
education systems are vital for equality and social inclusion; calls, therefore, for a shift in the
euro area’s macroeconomic policy mix towards increased public spending on education and training;

3.       Stresses that social disadvantage is frequently a predictor of poor educational outcomes
and vice versa; insists that a properly funded, quality education and lifelong learning system can
help break this vicious circle and promote social inclusion and equal opportunities;

4.       Supports student and worker mobility in the EU and the euro area; is concerned, however,
that substantial differences in living and working standards in the euro area trigger involuntary
migration, further exacerbating the effects of the so-called brain drain; calls for future
education and employment policies to reverse this phenomenon;

5.       Calls for a genuine revision of EU and Member States’ education, training and skills
policies to deliver education and lifelong learning for inclusion; highlights that these policies
should promote personal and societal development in a holistic manner and not simply be designed to
meet labour market demands.

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[1] Eurostat data.