Education, Youth and Culture

Photo: Gunnar Seijbold/Regeringskansliet

Krantz the novice has grown into the job

4 January 15:26

Minister for Higher Education and Research Tobias Krantz was more or less a complete novice when he was thrown in at the deep end during the Swedish Presidency. He took up the post after his predecessor in mid-June and chaired his first EU meeting only weeks later. Now that the Presidency has been concluded his appetite has been whetted. Here he speaks about his six months at the centre of European research policy.

Denna webbplats fungerar numera som arkiv och uppdateras inte. Här fanns tidigare ett foto som är borttaget på grund av upphovsrättsliga skäl.

This website is now functioning as an archive and will not be updated. Previously there was a photo here which has been removed for copyright reasons.

Faisant dorénavant office d’archives, ce site n’est plus remis à jour. Ici se trouvait précédemment placée une photo ayant été retirée pour des raisons de droits d'auteur.

Youth policy cooperation

During the Swedish Presidency the Council will adopt a new framework for youth policy cooperation in the EU from 2010. The new framework will be based on the Commission communication “An EU Strategy for Youth – Investing and Empowering”. The Commission’s communication builds on Member States’ evaluations of current cooperation and consultations with young people, youth organisations and people who work on youth issues in one way or another. The aim is to promote good living conditions and increased participation among young women and men in Europe by means of better cooperation. A decision on the future framework will be taken at the Council meeting on 26–27 November 2009.

Creative generation

Sweden's Presidency will focus on the theme ”Promoting a creative generation” in the culture and media area. Access of children and young people to culture and opportunities to be creative will be the main focus, and the goal is to highlight different ways of promoting a creative generation, both nationally and at the EU level. In this way the Presidency will contribute to a more open and dynamic Europe.

Sweden will present a proposal on conclusions focusing on measures that contribute to promoting a creative generation. The ambition is that these will be adopted by the Council on 26-27 November. The work will be supported by a cultural and media conference under the title ”Promoting a creative generation” on 29-30 July in Göteborg.
 

Education

To a large extent, European cooperation in the area of education involves discussing solutions to common challenges and problems and exchanging experiences with the aim of improving the quality of education. The Presidency will prioritise issues concerning the professional development of teachers and the role of school management.

The impact of universities and other higher education institutions on research-based innovations has grown. The Presidency will focus on the role of higher education institutions in promoting cooperation within the knowledge triangle (education-research-innovation).

During the Presidency a discussion will be initiated on issues related to the role of education in enabling migrants to become integrated into society.

A Council for cultural exchange and diversity

In this configuration, the EU’s ministers for education, youth or culture meet, depending on what issues are to be addressed. Examples of issues are increased cooperation between European universities, EU support for films and action to improve the living conditions of young women and men. The Council meets three or four times a year. During the Swedish Presidency, an additional informal meeting on education will take place on 23-24 September in Göteborg. The Swedish Minister for Education, Jan Björklund, will chair the meeting.

More about education, youth and culture

  • Education, Youth and Culture Council