During the first two years of my mandate, the opinions and helpful advice of the Committee of the Regions have been carefully taken into account. The reason is simple: the Committee gives local and regional authorities a voice in the EU and I know that local and regional authorities have a key role to implement our policies, especially in the domains directly linked to the Lisbon Strategy. I commend the efforts of the Committee to build an environment of regular and systematic co-operation with the associations of local and regional authorities. I hope that, thanks to you and your channels, our debates and their results will reach the citizens.

Our discussion today is about the role of regions and cities in our policies for education and culture, with special reference to the Lisbon Strategy.

Financial perspectives

Let me say a few words on the agreement on the budget of the EU and its implications for our work. After months of discussion, the final agreement was reached last May. I am pleased that we will have increased funding for programmes directly related to the renewed Lisbon Agenda which include our education policies. The final budget for lifelong learning will be 7 billion Euros. Another concern of the Commission’s was to secure additional funding for programmes that reach out to citizens such as culture, youth, health and consumer protection. We were successful in this regard as well. Now that we have a clear financial framework, we must complete the legislative process and get all our programmes running next year as planned.

Let me now turn to some of the policies in my portfolio and how they can contribute to the Lisbon Strategy.

Education and training

Lifelong learning lies at the heart of the renewed Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. The importance of education and training is increasingly being recognised at the highest political level. For instance, the latest Spring European Council concluded that “education and training are critical factors to develop the EU long-term potential for competitiveness as well as for social cohesion.” Lifelong learning is the key to ensuring that Europeans are equipped to tackle today’s challenges: rapidly changing markets, ageing populations, and globalisation. Our co-operation programme called ‘Education and Training 2010’ is the policy framework for European actions in this domain. Within this framework, Member States have agreed on five key benchmarks to be met by 2010. The latest progress report on the programme showed that there is still much to do if we are to get even near the targets.

Three benchmarks are about compulsory education, because the essential skills for successful lifelong learning are built up in this stage in life. These are:

• reducing the number of early school leavers; (only 10% by 2010);
• increasing the literacy level of 15 year olds (low achievers about 15% by 2010); and
• boosting the levels of upper-secondary completion (85% by 2010).

One key element of the programme is the commitment of Member States to have comprehensive lifelong learning strategies in place by the end of 2006.

Regional authorities are the branch of government closest to the citizen. They are therefore best placed to help central governments translate their commitments into facts. Among other things, they can do so by fostering regional pools of excellence on lifelong learning. In 2002, the Commission launched a pilot initiative of regional networks established to promote lifelong learning – the so-called R3L initiative. This provided some visibility and impetus – locally and regionally – to the goal of creating a lifelong learning society.

Let me tell you about the initiatives that are under discussion and those that will soon be on the agenda. Our first priority is the final adoption and implementation of the new Lifelong Learning Programme for 2007 – 2013. This covers sectoral programmes on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult education (Grundtvig). In addition, it includes cross-cutting measures and an additional Jean Monnet programme focussed on European integration. We intend to help make this happening by fostering interaction, co-operation and mobility between Europe’s education and training systems, so that they become a world quality reference.

Other major initiatives are also on the agenda. One example is the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The EQF concept has started lively debates both at European and national levels. In essence, EQF is an instrument to develop voluntary translation tools for comparing and transferring qualifications across the EU. I hasten to add that we do not intend to replace or harmonise national, regional or sectoral qualification systems. Instead, the EQF should be a reference point to facilitate communication and improve mutual understanding of systems and qualifications. Another example is the proposal for a Recommendation on Key Competences. This identifies a set of 8 key competences individuals will need in order to earn a living and to contribute in a knowledge-based society. The proposal stresses the role of regional and local actors in the implementation stage. After all, building up the essential skills for a knowledge society is as important for regional innovation and growth as it is for national competitiveness.

Another example is a Communication recently adopted by the Commission about the modernisation of higher education. We identified three key areas for urgent reform for Europe’s universities and research centres: financing, governance and curriculum and content. Again, regional authorities are crucial to make these reforms a success, because they are uniquely placed to bring together all the actors – regional stakeholders, businesses and higher education institutions.

Europe’s higher education will also benefit from another initiative of ours known as the European Institute of Technology (EIT). The idea was first launched in 2005 as part of the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy. The Heads of State at the Brussels Summit of last 15-16 June, called on the Commission to present a formal proposal this autumn. What is its rationale? In simple terms, it starts from the recognition that Europe is not performing well in the so-called “knowledge triangle” – education, research and innovation. It emerges from a wide public consultation which indicated that Europe needs neither a new elite university nor simply more networks of excellence. It should support – on a competitive basis – the creation of “Knowledge Communities”, consisting of centres and teams from research organisations, universities and industry, to address challenges in key European strategic interdisciplinary areas such as green energy or nanotechnology.

Youth

I told you earlier that I would review the major policies in my portfolio, which also include youth, culture, and citizenship. Our youth policy will be developed through the new “Youth in action programme” and other initiatives. In the wake of initiatives such as Plan D, the Commission is currently preparing a Communication on active European citizenship of young people. The Communication will address the current ‘citizenship gap’ among young people and propose a permanent and structured dialogue, in cooperation with Member States and youth organisations, over a period of three years. Among other things, this means that European youth events – such as the European youth week – should be anticipated by debates at the level of municipalities. The European Youth Pact is another main political initiative in this area. There are many ways in which authorities and NGOs in the regions and cities can contribute to the Youth Pact mainly on three areas: employment & social integration; education, training and mobility and reconciliation of working and family life, by:

• Influencing national policymaking,
• Developing integrated youth policies focused around the needs of young people;
• Working together to create cross-sectoral links that bring together different stakeholders,
• Supporting and developing local and regional youth employment and training projects and
• Highlighting the role of youth organisations in developing the skills and competences of young people and the contribution that socially responsible employers and businesses can provide.

Culture

Our programme framework is being renewed in the field of culture too. The current ‘Culture 2000’ programme expires in December and will be replaced by a new Culture programme. Over the past six years, Culture 2000 has supported partnerships and actions such as the European Capitals for Culture, the EU Prize for cultural heritage – Europa Nostra Awards, and so on. However, beyond these actions, culture is becoming increasingly important for the political agenda of the Union. Perhaps intercultural dialogue is the best example of this new political dimension of our cultural action.

The Commission fully agrees with the Committee of the Regions that Europe’s strength lies in its diversity. There is clear and growing recognition in Europe of the need for deeper and more structured intercultural dialogue involving public authorities and civil society at all levels. This implies the shift from “multi-cultural” to “inter-cultural” societies. To underline this priority, the European Commission has endorsed my proposal to make 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. To put it simply, this initiative will focus on building a better “living together” environment for all the peoples of the Union.

Citizenship

And this naturally leads to our citizenship policies, the last domain in my portfolio I will tell you about but by no means the least important one. It will be the task of the new “Europe for citizens” programme to promote active European citizenship for the period 2007-2013. I am convinced that addressing citizens at regional and local level is one of the best ways of involving them in the process of European integration. As a consequence, regional and local organisations and authorities will play a crucial role in this programme. For example, local and regional authorities are a specific target group of the town-twinning action. Secondly, local authorities can organise the so-called “citizens’ projects”, which is a new form of participative project. Finally, regional NGOs can find support for their trans-national co-operation projects and networking activities, also in partnership with local and regional authorities.

Conclusion

Europe is facing major socio-economic and demographic challenges. They stem from globalisation, the rapid development of new technologies, changes in the organisation of work and the ageing of our societies. It is equally true that these changes threaten to put unsustainable pressure on our social systems and jeopardise our long-term growth, competitiveness and social cohesion. We cannot protect and develop Europe’s jobs and competitiveness by competing on wage costs. We need to find original ways to add value to complex products and services. This means a highly skilled workforce, constantly able to update its skills and knowledge. The knowledge and skills acquired through learning – our ‘human capital’ – determine each region’s and country’s potential for excellence, innovation and economic growth. I am convinced that if we stand together we can meet these challenges and we will prevail. This is why the policies I’ve been telling you about are so crucial, because – in one way or another – they all determine the image that Europe gives to its citizens. Europe will rebound from its present difficulties as it has done so many times in the past 50 years, and our work on culture, youth, and citizenship will make this rebound easier and higher. That is why I put so much emphasis on dialogue, in particular with local and regional authorities and organisations. Europe needs to build a culture of dialogue, culture of responsibility and of solidarity. The issues and portfolio we are discussing are not powerful but highly meaningful for the future of Europe. Let us use them for our individual as well as common good.