Madam President, education is an important topic, and I am therefore pleased that the Spanish Presidency has selected it as one of the spearheads of its activities. This report is about developing the objectives which the Commission has formulated in the field of general education and occupational training. At the Lisbon Summit, it was stated that the European Union was to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustaining economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. This is an important objective which is also attended by the necessary urgency if we want Europe to be accorded a respectable place on the economic and cultural map of the world. Education is rightly regarded as an important instrument for attaining this objective. It is no less justifiable to apply all existing brainpower and experience. This is why I regret that the European Parliament was not involved in drawing up these objectives, was not consulted and can therefore now only react to the programme which the Commission has in mind for developing the objectives. Having said that, I do agree with the goals which the Commission is formulating: increasing the quality and effectiveness of education; facilitating access to education; and opening up education and training systems to the world. The Lisbon Summit thus wanted Europe to do more to promote the knowledge-based economy, sustainable growth and social cohesion. Unfortunately, the Commission report mainly refers only to the first two objectives. The focus is on new technology, expertise in the field of ICT, getting boys and girls interested in education and technology, etc. This is important in occupational training which prepares people for making a professional contribution to society. General education is broader. Not only does it prepare people for working life, it also has a duty to prepare people to function in society as people, as citizens. This dimension is missing from the Commission communication. The Commission is thinking of education too much in terms of the economy and the labour market. In other words, it mainly wants to educate people in their role as economic players. When we talk about a future Europe, when we talk about a stable Europe, a Europe with social cohesion, then education has a role to play in that field too. This is particularly the case since education, notably general education, has in many countries been given a strongly complementary function in relation to the family. Education in my own country, the Netherlands, is in crisis, in my view. There are too few teachers. The quality of education is going down, there are complaints about the level of knowledge of students about to embark on a university degree, there are too many regulations, etc. There is also insufficient funding. There are problems in other countries too. That is why I am pleased that consideration is once again being given at European level to the objectives of education and training, and that concrete testing criteria are also being formulated, with due respect for subsidiarity. In my report, where social cohesion and a stable Europe are concerned, I call for indicators to be formulated and applied which home in on skills that people need to function well in society. Communication and social skills spring to mind, as well as knowledge and understanding of other cultures and a developed sense of citizenship. As already stated, education also offers, of course, a preparation for working life, but must certainly also contribute to educating people into an awareness of democracy and of the notion of the rule of law, as well as helping to educate people into becoming active citizens who not only have their own self-interest at heart, but also the public interest. Needless to say, the report must be seen in the context of other programmes which touch upon education, such as lifelong learning, mobility and language programmes, etc. Lifelong learning is important when we talk about improving access to education for all, not only for young people, but also older people, not only for healthy people, but also for those with a handicap, and not only for the native population, but also for foreign people. I should like to conclude with one remark about language education. With a growing, open internal market and with a society which is becoming ever more multicultural, the importance of a knowledge of languages is growing. This is why, in the report, I subscribe to the objective that all pupils should be proficient in two languages in addition to their mother tongues by the end of their compulsory education.

Political group: PPE-DE