Mr President, the quality of education is high on the political agenda of every Member State, and that comes as no surprise. The third millennium offers unknown opportunities and prospects within a society which is becoming increasingly more aware, more global, more mobile and more knowledge-intensive, but at the same time where the concern about different speeds and opportunities for people is becoming increasingly apparent, because how does one ensure that everyone can function fully in this new dynamic society? Education must and can help here, and all these new developments offer education opportunities and challenges, because education will undergo a sea of change, and that is only the way children are taught, and how they are taught to learn. Consider, in addition, technology, information technology and the different cultures. That is why it is so important that the EU Member States join forces and want to work together on future-orientated education, each according to their own tradition but, let there be no mistake, with a common goal in mind. As rapporteur, I am thus delighted with the results of the common position as it is now before us. Initially, I found the Commission proposal somewhat vague and very non-committal, given the huge importance of sound education, and the Council was suffering from stage fright: whatever you do, do not touch our autonomy in education. However, in the course of the discussions, they came to share Parliament’s opinion that the quality of education should be monitored seriously and in a structured manner by, among other things, setting up sound, efficient quality evaluation systems for primary education, secondary education and secondary vocational training. The recommendations are now clear in the amendments tabled by the MEPs and myself as rapporteur. In these, we stipulate clearly that Member States must develop transparent quality evaluation with high-quality education as the key goal. This was not in the first Commission proposal, and neither was the promotion of social integration. Offering equal opportunities to boys and girls, that was also hard to sell. It was difficult to convince the Council to adopt this wording, but as rapporteur, I am delighted that both the Council and Commission are now in agreement with this. Another aspect which was close to my heart is that parents, pupils and teachers too should be involved in the process. This, too, has now been included, and this is important for the support structure of evaluation processes and improvements in education. It is also important to encourage schools to cooperate at national and European level. However, I believe that schools should not be prevented from looking for sound cooperation partners in their immediate surroundings within the region, and, in my opinion, this idea could have been given more of an airing in the report. Finally, I should like to underline the importance of collating information and developing indicators and references, and of entering these in a database which can be consulted interactively. That is the modern way of communicating. It brings me pleasure personally as rapporteur to see that the Member States have got down to work both independently and under the remit of the Commission and have set up a working committee of experts that has developed a limited number of indicators and benchmarks. Parliament will be monitoring the developments closely. Mr President, Commissioner, the common position as it is now before us is the result of sound and constructive cooperation with the Commission and the Council in the spirit of codecision, but particularly thanks to the involvement of my fellow MEPs who have delivered their comments with great care, the recommendation has become a sound, well-balanced and stimulating one, which Member States can now start to use. I am interested to hear your reaction.

Political group: ELDR