Developing a Community Level Education Policy, 1971–Present

Abstract

The chapter continues the historical account of EU education policy from when the European Community began to hold a recognised competence in the area of education, notably following the “Janne Report” of 1973 that pinpointed the basic elements of an education policy at Community level. The chapter covers the two action programmes that followed, the Social Action Programme and the Education Action Programme, which helped to cement Community activities in the fields of education and training for the following decades. The chapter outlines the subsequent journey for education policy throughout the 1980s with the creation of the Erasmus Programme and new Education and Training Action Programmes, the 1990s with further restructuring and reforms in Teaching and Learning, the 2000s with a focus on lifelong learning and the Open Method of Communication, and the last decade, which has placed education high on the agenda to reinforce a knowledge economy in Europe.