Activities of Marie-Christine VERGIAT related to 2012/2045(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Education, Training and Europe 2020 PDF (201 KB) DOC (133 KB)
Amendments (28)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of investing in learning to meet the Europe 2020 targets and to strengthen European competitiveness, and urges Member States to improve access to lifelong learning (LLL) for all despite budgetary consolidation processes; stresses that education and training policies should not be evaluated purely in terms of competitiveness, but that education is above all a fundamental human right and a public service which should be guaranteed for all without discrimination;
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in particular its Article 14,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, despite some improvement in education and training, for the majority of the EU population lifelong learning (LLL) is still not a reality, and certain indicators are, in fact, worrying;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Member States have a public responsibility to draft education and training policies and these spheres require adequate public funding in order to guarantee equal access to education without social, economic, cultural, racial or political discrimination;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the implementation of LLL strategies still remain a challenge for many Member StatesLLL strategies are far from being properly implemented in many Member States, although they are a key part of the EU 2020 strategy;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Points out that countercyclical investments in education and training policies can play a key role in overcoming economic crises;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses the need to combat increasing unemployment and the growing insecurity facing young people who have been hit hard by the current economic crisis, by guaranteeing them high-quality, stable and secure employment;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas economic growth based onmust be based, as a matter of priority, on education, knowledge and, innovation is neededand appropriate social policies to make the EU emerge out of the actualcurrent crises, and it is important to implement the policies in this sphere within the EU 2020 strategy framework properly and in full in order to get through this crucial period;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas inadequatesufficient language knowledge continues to be an enormous obstacle to learning mobility;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas LLL should genuinely mean lifelong within the actual demographic context; whereas further consideration should be given to the prospects of thewe should continue to take better account of the potential of knowledge accrued by older people;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas Early School Leaving (ESL) has serious consequences for the individual and for the EU’s social and economic growthdevelopment;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomNotes the above-mentioned Commission Communication on ‘Education and Training in smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe’;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that some Member States might be tempted tohave pursued budget cuts in education and training, but emphasises that the multiannual financial framework goes in the opposite direction: education and related sectors won the biggest percentage increase under the EU’s long-term budget;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights that the economic costs of educational underperformancethe consequences of social inequalities within education and training systems, particularly those of school dropout, are significantly higher than the costs of the financial crisis, and Member States are already paying the price year after year;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on Member States to comply with and promote the European Quality Charter on Internships and Apprenticeships; insists that internships should only be used as part of education and training, and not as a means of obtaining cheap labour;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Asks Member States to prioritise expenditures in education and training, youth, research and innovation that armust be considered to be priority investments for future growthsocial and economic development, but at the same time ensuring the added value of such investment;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that a special focus should be given to young people, bearing in mind that the EU unemployment rate has increased to over 20 %, with peaks in excess of 40 % in some Member States or some regions, and that young people, particularly the least qualified young people, are particularly hard hit in the current crisis; highlights, in particular, the detrimental effects of austerity programmes on youth unemployment in certain EU States, especially those in southern Europe, leading, for example, to a significant brain drain to other countries, including countries outside the EU; recalls also that one out of seven of today’s students (14.4 %) leaves the education system with no more than a lower secondary education and does not participate in any further education or training;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. CStresses that the current generation of young people feels that it will never be able to attain the same level of prosperity as the previous one did; calls on the EU institutions to make further efforts to elaborate better, clearermore consistent and more targeted youth policies at EU level; the current generation of young people feels that it will not be able to attain the same level of prosperity as the previous one did, which complement national policies and abide by the principle of subsidiarity, in order to give young people new hope; believes it is vital to involve young people and the organisations and associations that represent them in drafting these policies, particularly at European level;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. In particular, asks the Member States to target, with the Commission’s support, young people that are not in education, training or employment, to promote quality traineeships so that young people can gain real work experience and quickly enter the job market and to givein order to offer them quality learning and training provision so that they can gain the skills and experience they need to enter employment, including, for some of them, by facilitating their re-entry into the educational system; at the same time, calls for special attention to be given to vocational education and training in tertiary education systems, taking into account the diversity of national education systems;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for an intensified policy dialogue and cooperation on education and training between the Union and its international partners to reflect the increasing economic, social and political interdependencies and to contribute to the implementation of the external dimension of Europe 2020; draws attention, however, to the damaging effects of austerity programmes, which lead to a brain drain both within the Union and towards third countries.
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on Member States to involve all stakeholders, particularly the social partners, in the development and implementation of education and training policies.
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Believes it is vital to promote mobility, in particular through exchanges of teachers, students and pupils, especially in the language field;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Stresses the importance of informal and non-formal education for the development of values, aptitudes and skills, particularly for young people, as well as for learning about citizenship and democratic involvement; calls on the Commission to provide support, including financial support, for informal and non- formal education within the framework of the new programmes for education and youth, as well as for citizenship;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Bearing in mind that demographic change is an undeniable reality in Europe; calls on universities to widen access to learning and to modernise curricula to address the new challenges in order to upgrade the skills of the European population without calling into question their academic remit in terms of passing on knowledge;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that adult learning extends beyond employment-related activities to include personal, civic and social skills in formal education and training systems; notes, nonetheless, that there ought to be a clear distinction between continuing professional training and voluntary activities outside the framework of work, to ensure that the latter do not replace the former where employers’ obligations for the professional development of employees are concerned;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Highlights the need for LLL statistics that cover the age group of 64 +; with the retirement age in many of the EU countries rising, and with people working later in their lives, it is time to considernecessary to take into account the changes in the population that fall outside this age bracket;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the business community, and on individual companies, to sponsorEncourages dialogue between private stakeholders, particularly SMEs and local and regional authorities, as well as civil society stakeholders, and higher-education institutes/universities that allowin order to promote the acquisition by students to gainof knowledge and skills for their future work lifeto facilitate their entry into work;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Encourages Member States to consider the possibility of introducing small grants for pre-university students from poorer backgroundacing difficulties to encourage them to stay in education;