P6_TA(2006)0361

The European dimension of school teaching materials

European Parliament resolution on initiatives to complement school curricula providing appropriate support measures to include the European dimension (2006/2041(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 149 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the resolution for enhancing the European dimension in education [1] which the European Council and the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council adopted on 24 May 1988,

- having regard to the Green Paper on the European dimension of education (COM(1993)0457),

- having regard to the Commission's Communication entitled "A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism" (COM(2005)0596),

- having regard to the joint interim report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems in Europe entitled "Education and training 2010" The success of the Lisbon strategy hinges on urgent reforms [2],

- having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education (A6-0267/2006),

A. whereas the European dimension has become in recent decades an increasingly important aspect of education, especially in national school curricula,

B. whereas the European Parliament is already involved in this field, particularly with the Hearing on "The European Dimension in History Teaching" of 7 April 2004,

C. whereas initiatives have already been taken by national authorities in Member States such as Austria, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, the UK, Slovenia and Spain on the subject of Europe's place in education and whereas many initiatives have also been taken in this area by non-governmental organisations,

D. whereas the linguistic aspect appears to be fundamental in strengthening the European dimension, proficiency in foreign languages being a part of the basic set of skills of a typical European citizen living, studying, working and generally circulating in the European Union,

E. whereas disparities exist between and within Member States where the inclusion of the European dimension in education is concerned,

F. whereas the importance of the Comenius and Lingua programmes must be borne in mind in this respect,

G. whereas the information about Europe that is conveyed to pupils, teachers and students varies widely from country to country and whereas efforts must be made to agree on a common understanding of history and a definition of European values,

H. whereas the main obstacles include the still limited scale of cross-border initiatives and programmes, a lack of coordination between initiatives, a lack of visibility and accessibility, as well as inadequate or unsuitable tools for carrying out these tasks,

I. whereas there are many obstacles and difficulties which currently face teachers in order to implement the European dimension in their lessons including the lack of up-to-date, high-quality informational and educational material on the European Union available in all EU languages, and whereas the European Union should assist them in this endeavour,

1. Considers that all education systems should ensure that their pupils have by the end of their secondary education the knowledge and competences they need, as defined by their respective educational authorities, to prepare them for their roles as citizens and as members of the European Union;

2. Stresses the importance of finding a clearer and uniform definition across the Member States of the meaning, substance and scope of the "European dimension";

3. Urges the European Council and the Ministers of Education to update the above-mentioned resolution, in particular taking in to account the enlargements to the EU which have occurred since then;

4. Urges the Council to recognise the two different aspects of the European dimension — firstly access to information about the EU: its institutions, methods, practices, initiatives, and secondly knowledge of Europe's shared history and cultural heritage, the development of linguistic skills, and a grasp of European current events, all of which may supplement national curricula;

5. Stresses the importance of using multi-media and Internet educational resources as modern teaching methods for introducing the European dimension into school curricula; with this in view, recommends for instance the setting up of a multilingual Internet service that will present best practice, provide educational assistance and serve as a platform for the exchange of experience;

6. Insists on the need for continued improvement in the provision of language teaching, for example within the Comenius section of the Lifelong Learning Programme; recognises furthermore that it is difficult, in some Member States, in particular for those whose mother tongue is English, to maintain sufficient interest and motivation in becoming proficient in other European languages, thus underpinning the level of mutual understanding and empathy across Europe; in this connection learning the languages of neighbouring peoples is especially important;

7. Urges Member States to promote the dissemination of multilingualism by a policy of learning a broader range of languages than those taught today and to establish the teaching of at least two foreign languages from a very early age in their school curricula;

8. Suggests an analysis of where the Lisbon Agenda has so far failed to produce the intended results in this matter and the production of a list of measures considered essential for Member State governments to implement if the agreed economic improvements are to be brought about;

9. Recommends an exchange of best practice between all Member States with regard to language teaching and the inclusion of European content in education, to ensure that the current initiatives, including those established pre-2004, are disseminated to all EU Member States;

10. Proposes that as an important aspect of ensuring the success of the last EU enlargement, adequate information, project, student and teacher exchanges should be arranged between the ten new and the fifteen more long-term Member States;

11. Calls on the Council to consider whether useful and relevant teaching resources such as "European Schoolnet", learning cooperation and innovation and tools such as "Europe at School" require support with additional resources and whether teachers have sufficient guidance as to how to access the relevant information in order to enhance the European dimension in education;

12. Suggests the promotion of teacher training courses which provide the trainees with the necessary understanding of European issues so that they may complement their teaching of national and local awareness with the European dimension;

13. Stresses that the European dimension complements national content, but neither replaces nor supplants it;

14. Stresses the need to update existing documents, in particular the 1996 non-exhaustive Eurydice thematic bibliography;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

[1] OJ C 177, 6.7.1988, p. 5.

[2] OJ C 104, 30.4.2004, p. 1.

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