"Education and training are more than ever crucial for the future of the European Union. High quality and accessible education is essential if we are to have a sustainable economic and socially-inclusive recovery from the present economic and financial crisis." 

– Maroš Šefčovič
EU Education, Training, Culture and Youth Commissioner

European leaders have set an ambitious goal: the EU must become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion (European Council, Lisbon, March 2000). By 2010, Europe should be the world leader in terms of the quality of its education and training systems.

Making this happen will mean a fundamental transformation of education and training throughout Europe. Under the "Bologna Process," which now extends far beyond EU borders, more than 40 countries are working toward convergence of their higher education systems.

EU Study Programs

The European Union has developed a number of programs to encourage mobility of students, teachers and researchers and exchange of information and best practice.

Programs such as Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci offer grants to study, teach or undertake training in another European country. They also afford educational institutions the opportunity to cooperate and establish networks.

Under the Erasmus program, university students may undertake part of their studies in another country; well over a million have done so already. Erasmus Mundus, launched in 2005, promotes the EU as a global center of excellence by supporting inter-university EU Master’s Degree courses and funding scholarships for non-EU participants.

EU-US Cooperation

Transatlantic cooperation on education is considered to be an important component in stimulating economic growth and prosperity. The EU-US Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training jointly funds cooperative activities between educational institutions in the EU and the United States. The new program, launched in 2006, pursues the ambitious aim of implementing joint or dual transatlantic undergraduate degrees. The European Commission and the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) provide support to multilateral consortia with a minimum configuration of 2 EU higher education institutions located in different Member States and 1 US institution. The partner institutions have to create an integrated joint study program, with students from the 2 sides spending a period of study both in the EU and in the US institutions and getting either a joint degree or a double degree encompassing the whole period of study. At the core of the program is the enhancement of student mobility, innovation and joint curriculum development and academic recognition between the EU and the US.

European Union Delegation, Washington, DC, Staff

USEFUL Links:

European Commission Websites

• EU Education and Culture Directorate General
  • Bologna Process
  • EU Education Programs
  • EU Education and Training Policy
• EU Education, Training, Culture & Youth Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič
• EU Culture, Education & Youth Portal
• EU-US Cooperation and Dialogue in Research and Education
  • Atlantis Program Call for Proposals: EU-US Higher Ed. & Vocat. Cooperation (Deadline: April 8, 2010)

EU Institutions

• Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
• European Training Foundation (ETF)
• European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)

More information

• EU-US Education Policy Forum, October 8 - 9, 2009
• Bologna Process: EU ministers responsible for higher education met at Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, April 28-29, 2009, to discuss progress in European higher education reform under the Bologna process and to define political orientations for the European Higher Education Area up to 2020
  • Text of the Communiqué
  • Text of the Bologna Policy Forum Final Declaration
  • Bologna Process Secretariat: Official Website of the Ministerial Conference
  • European Commission: More on the Bologna Process
  • European Commission: The Contribution of the EU to the Bologna Process
• JEAN MONNET PROGRAM 2009: STIMULATING EU STUDIES AT UNIVERSITIES WORLDWIDE
• European Research & Education Programmes: What's in Them for You? - Booklet
• EU Insight: Advancing Mutual Understanding through Academic Mobility
• EU Insight: The European Union & the United States: Cooperation in Education: Promoting Mutual Understanding, Developing Skills for the Global Economy - January 2007
• ERASMUS (Higher-Education Exchange Program)
• European Council, Lisbon, March 2000
• The EU-US Cooperation Program In Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training; Renewal Text; More
• Eurydice (Information Network on Education in Europe)
• European Youth Portal
• PLOTEUS (Portal on Learning Opportunities throughout the European Space)
• EU Education, Training & Youth Activities 
• EU Education, Training & Youth Legislative Summaries
• EU Education Legislation
• EU Academic Resources, Fellowships and Grants
• US Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)
• Statistics
• Publications
  • Official Documents
  • Reports & Studies