European education area

The fundamental contribution of Socrates to a European education area has been applauded repeatedly and is beyond question.

So I would prefer not to speak about rankings but about our delivery in building a more attractive European education area.

The European education area is a front for converging education systems by tailoring them to the requirements of big business and the last thing that does is to improve education overall.

Socrates is the touchstone of a policy intended to bring the European Union and its citizens together, and it is making a crucial contribution to the progressive construction of a European education area.

The Bologna Process of creating, by 2010, a European Education Area is thus supplemented by an instrument of recognition of all qualifications that may be obtained in the Union's Member States.

In the academic year of 2006-2007, the Declaration of Bologna was successfully implemented for all IST programmes, aiming the establishment of a European Education Area to make Europe a competitive knowledge-based economy.

The shortage of funding for Socrates and the other youth programmes stands in stark contrast to all the fine words spoken about the need for more contact between young people in Europe and the creation of a genuine European education area.