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Education and Cultural Policy

Education was not formally integrated into the EU policy portfolio until the 1993 Maastricht Treaty. Despite this, the first Community legislation having an impact in the education sector was adopted in the sixties. These early directives dealt with mutual recognition of qualifications. Achieving recognition by one Member State of a qualification obtained in another was a fundamental building block in establishing the freedom to provide services and a pre-condition for implementing the free movement of workers in the single market.

Mutual recognition of qualifications

Fundamental to the implementation of the freedom to provide services across borders and to the free movement of workers in the single market. Provisions already in force cover the legal profession, the medical profession (doctors, dentists, vets, nurses, midwives, pharmacists), architecture, commerce and industry, the transport sector, agriculture, the film industry and the self employed. Furthermore, in 1989, a general system was introduced for the recognition of higher education degrees and diplomas and this has since been extended to cover professional education and training.

Student Mobility

Widely regarded as being among the most visible and beneficial initiatives, the EU has develop wide number of initiatives to promote student mobility.

The most famous of these is the 1987 Erasmus programme. Built on a system of recognition of course credits, Erasmus allows university students to study for one year in a different Member State.

In its post-Maastricht form, and under the banner of Socrates (euro 920 million for the period 1995-99) Erasmus has been supplemented by Comenius (partnerships between schools and colleges in different Member States), Lingua (promotion of language training), Minerva (open and distance learning - Information and Communication Technologies in the field of education) and Arion (cooperation in education theory).

A separate programme - Leonardo (euro 620 million, 1995-1999) - was also put in place for vocational training exchanges. This gives young school leavers, students and graduates the chance to receive vocational training. It is also open to adults seeking similar qualifications. In addition to education and training, there are 2 EU programmes for young people – the 1995 "Youth for Europe" scheme (euro 126 million 1995-99) and the "European Voluntary Service", formally established in 1998 after a 2-year pilot phase.

There is an increasing tendency for these programmes to be extended beyond the borders of the EU. All apply to the EFTA States participating in the EEA (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and are being extended to the countries pursuing accession negotiations to join the EU.

A separate initiative, Tempus, funds exchanges with other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The EU also has separate education cooperation programmes with the developing countries of Asia, Latin America, the USA, Canada and 71 States in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Under both Socrates and the European Social Fund, a growing number of initiatives target ethnic minorities, the disabled and women returning to work.

Among the many EU agencies in the education sector, the oldest is the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (known by its French acronym CEDEFOP) which was established in 1975 and now has its seat in Thessaloniki. Others include the European Training Foundation (Turin), the European University Institute (Florence) and an information network on education in Europe - EURYDICE. National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARICs) have also been created in all Member States.