Education & Training in the European Union

In Europe the different education and training systems in the Member States have developed as an expression and reflection of different national cultures. The objective of the Union’s education policy is to encourage European cooperation via an understanding of different national educational systems and by retaining the diversity of the educational experience of European countries. Based on the principle of subsidiarity each Member State undertakes complete responsibility for organizing its educational system and the content of courses taught. Against this background, the role of the European Union is not to develop a common educational system but to encourage cooperation among Member States, supporting and supplementing their activities, with the aim of improving the quality of education, the best possible utilization of opportunities for education and to promote transnational mobility of both the educated and educators within the European Union.

In order to achieve these objectives, the European Union has established bodies and networks which contribute to promoting the European dimension to education and to coordinating the European approach to the problems of vocational education and training. These bodies and networks include the Eurydice Network, CEDEFOP and the European Training Foundation.

The Eurydice Network

Eurydice is the European information network for education. It provides comparable information relating to policy, the structure, management and legal regime governing education systems in Member and Partner States at all levels of education while also providing information about all educational bodies in Europe. 30 countries participate in this network: 25 Member States, 3 ΕFTA/EEA states and 2 future members (Bulgaria and Romania).

The Eurydice Network has developed a dynamic database - Eurybase - which describes the educational systems of the 30 countries participating in the network while at the same time also providing summary information on the political and economic system of each country. This information is available in English and in the official language of the country described.

The Eurydice network consists of individual national units whose objective is to provide information and advice relating to educational systems to educational authorities at all levels, public services and policy decision makers. The activities of the network are coordinated by the European Service, which is responsible for central guidance of the network and coordination of its activities. The corresponding national service in Greece reports to the Ministry of Education’s EU Directorate, Department 3, Eurydice European Network for Education.

CEDEFOP

Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) is the European Union’s reference centre for vocational education and training and is based in Thessaloniki. It provides information and academic analyses relating to systems, policies, research and practice in the field of vocational training. It also promotes development of a coordinated European approach to problems of vocational education and training, facilitating exchanges, cooperation and synergy between various target groups such as managers of policy making bodies, social partners, researchers and vocational training professionals.

European Training Foundation

The mission of the European Training Foundation is to assist and support the process of reform and modernization of vocational training systems in associate countries as part of the EU’s foreign policy. Its activities cover four large groups of countries: candidate countries for accession to the EU, countries in Southeastern Europe, the newly independent states and Mongolia, as well as countries and regions covered by the MEDA programme.

The European Training Foundation is based in Turin, Italy. It collaborates closely with Cedefop and provides technical support to the Tempus Programme.

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