Report on the proposal for a recommendation on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning / EP

Now that the Union, having undergone repeated enlargements, is being exposed to the unremitting economic and social momentum of globalisation, the future development of European society will depend more and more on the key influences that mould the personality, such as education, research, innovation, and technology.

These policy areas must be regarded as prerequisites and the foundations for the evolution laid down in the Lisbon strategy with the aim of building a prosperous future for the Union as such, viewed as a body politic, and above all for its citizens, viewed as a social community.

The four factors are closely interconnected. The only way to achieve growth and employment in our future society will be through innovation and progress; and education and research will constitute the fund of creativity that will undoubtedly help to change the EU system for the better.

The concept of change for the better merely denotes the contribution to the Unions international competitiveness, proceeding in every case according to the policy guidelines charted in the Lisbon strategy. [extract]