Social-democrat MEP Victor Negrescu continues his efforts to ensure access to quality education for all, succeeding in convincing the political groups in the European Parliament to approve his initiative to create the Intergroup “The Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe”, which he will coordinate.

The new platform, which has the backing of almost 100 MEPs from all pro-European political groups, marks a novelty in the European legislature, as there has never existed an intergroup on education and skills before.

”Another goal achieved in the European Parliament! I succeeded in convincing the political groups in the European legislature to agree on the creation of an intergroup dedicated to education and skills. The new institutional platform, which I will have the pleasure of coordinating, will allow us to make lifelong learning a priority in all parliamentary committees. The priorities of the Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe include facilitating dialogue with key stakeholders in the field, developing European strategies in the field, influencing European legislation and the EU budget in the field, and building European political alliances to promote key themes for education. The validation of the intergroup required the support of the political groups which negotiated and agreed on a list of areas recognized by the European Parliament as priorities”, mentioned the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Victor Negrescu.

In his capacity as co-chair of this intergroup, the MEP highlighted that it will play a pivotal role in shaping the European Education Area, facilitating dialogue between the European Parliament and stakeholders with an interest in the field of education: vocationally trained workers, as well as employers, educational institutions and local governments.

The horizontal topics that the intergroup covers are the following:

• Access to quality school education and management: Ensuring every learner has equal access to high-quality school education on all levels of education.
• Rethinking teachers’ profession: Revaluing teachers’ profession and – ensuring that teachers and trainers are available for the education and training needed in European reforms. Addressing teachers’ shortages, opening up the teaching profession, and considering alternative pathways.
• Flexible pathways to learning: Boosting participation of learners in formal, informal, and non-formal education – including flexible pathways to learning, validation of informal and non-formal learning, and innovative learning solutions, especially for women.
• Key competences and skills: For the digital transition – including artificial intelligences and cybersecurity; For the green transition – including renewables and green careers; Technical and STEM skills as well as adult skills, giving the possibility to workers to update their skills throughout life and transition to new roles as their companies adopt new technologies. Special attention will be given to securing quality jobs and to addressing deep gender gaps for specific occupations; Ensuring all Europeans have basic skills and that forecasting and support for advanced skills in specific sectors are facilitated; Addressing skills shortages, skills development, employment, and innovation, in particular supporting SMEs, EU industry, and critical sectors of the economy with the skills mismatch.
• Enhancing the mobility of vocational students and vocationally trained workers: Advancing the recognition of vocational diploma’s across borders; Increasing the participation of vocational students and institutions in Erasmus+.
• Strengthening EU Competitiveness – a well-educated and skilled workforce is essential for Europe’s competitiveness and future generations.

“We need an inclusive education system, adapted to the new global challenges and open to all those involved in the educational act. Education is a partnership between pupils/students, teachers, parents, the local, national community and European institution which requires the agreement and involvement of all for the learning and training process to work”, highlights the Romanian MEP, Victor Negrescu.

Victor Negrescu is the author of the proposal which was approved by the European Parliament to allocate 10% of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans to education, he has also managed through his actions and initiatives to increase the budget for education programs, including Erasmus+, both in capacity as chief negotiator of the European Parliament as well as responsible of the S&D Group for the EU budget. He is the author of the report Shaping Digital Education Policy and he has also promoted and got involved in the activities carried out within the European Year of Youth and the European Year of Skills and initiated a pilot project through which over 100 schools located in isolated and rural areas in the EU have benefited from funding for digitalization.