The Polish Presidency started on 1 July 2011 and focuses on three priorities: European integration as a source of growth, secure Europe, and Europe benefits from openness.

In the area of ​​education, the Presidency's priorities are development of the mobility of students and teachers, support for children of migrants, more effective policies to improve key competences and modernisation of the universities.

The new Troika, consisting of Poland, Denmark and Cyprus, will continue the work of the Council in the field of education, building on the achievements of the previous presidencies. This necessitates collaboration between the three consecutive presidencies on the priorities of the Strategic Framework of European Cooperation on Education and Training. The Troika will also monitor the contribution of education  to the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy and the progress made in achieving the goals of the flagship initiatives ‘Youth on the Move’ and ‘Agenda for New Skills and Jobs’.

Concerning youth, the Presidency’s priority is to increase youth participation in society in Europe. With the Polish Presidency, another 18 months of dialogue and cooperation on this issue begins. The experiences gained by our predecessors through dialogue are very valuable, and Poland benefits from their previous recommendations.

In the field of education, the Polish Presidency aims at advancing language competence as preparation for educational and professional mobility and improving the quality of educational mobility. Poland continues the work on the European benchmarks for educational mobility and lifelong learning. Another important element of the Presidency is involvement in the discussion on priorities for the second cycle of the Strategic Framework of European Cooperation on Education and Training.

The Polish Presidency intends to contribute significantly to the discussion on educational mobility within EU programmes, including its international dimension. The Presidency aims at increasing cooperation between youth from the EU, Eastern Europe and the countries of the Caucasus, for example by establishing wider access to EU programmes. The Polish government is an active participant in the European Union’s process of promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in countries under the European Neighbourhood Policy. 

The key priority in the field of higher education is its modernisation. The Polish Presidency emphasises the need to support quality in the context of enlarged higher education targets. This includes excellence in teaching and research as well as the issues of diversity and transparency of universities, graduate employability, partnerships with business and the social dimension of higher education. The Presidency focuses specifically on mobility, which the Polish Government acknowledges as an important element of the Eastern Partnerships programme. The crucial issue for discussion is the mobility challenges facing doctoral students because of the diversity of this group.

The Polish Presidency is ready for active cooperation with Member States, the European Commission, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, and other members of the European process in the fields of youth and education. The motto for the Presidency’s work with the Education, Youth and Sport Council is Competencies of Europe. In this context, the priorities of the Polish leadership in the fields of education and youth are Education for Mobility and Modernisation of Universities and Youth in the World.

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ReferNet Poland