Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'White Paper on education and training teaching and learning: Towards the learning society'
Date: 1996-07-10
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: education, education policy, information technology, socioeconomic conditions, vocational training













EUR-Lex - 51996AC0880 - EN






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51996AC0880

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'White Paper on education and training teaching and learning: Towards the learning society'  


Official Journal C 295 , 07/10/1996 P. 0025 





Opinion of the  Economic and Social Committee on the 'White Paper on education and training teaching and learning:  Towards the learning society` (96/C 295/05)On 21  December 1995 the European Commission  decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article  198 of the Treaty establishing  the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for  preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 20  June 1996. The rapporteur  was Mr Koryfidis. At its 337th Plenary Session (meeting of 10  July 1996), the Economic and Social Committee adopted  the following Opinion by 111 votes to 2, with one abstention. 1. Introduction 1.1. The White Paper on education and training is part of a process which aims to analyze and  propose guidelines for action in the field of education and training. It takes forward the White Paper on growth, competitiveness, employment, in that the aims it sets  out to achieve relate to improving employment and competitiveness at EU level. 1.2. The White Paper takes Treaty Articles 126 and 127 as its legal basis: the main initiatives  proposed, which are to be carried out from 1996 onwards (European Year of Lifelong Learning) set  out to: - encourage the acquisition of new knowledge; - bring school and the business sector closer together; - combat exclusion; - help people acquire proficiency in three European languages; - treat capital investment and investment in training on an equal basis. 2. General comments 2.1. In the Introduction to the White Paper, the Commission describes investment in knowledge and  skills as essential if the countries of Europe are to maintain their position and continue to be a  reference point in the world. The Commission also argues in the Introduction that education and training are the latest solution  to the unemployment problem, linking this to preparation of the future and the outlining of an  overall approach. It is certainly surprising that it has taken so long for proper attention to be paid to them. Indeed, if Europe exploited its comparative advantage - its human resources - and invested rapidly  in what is known as 'intangible assets`, then perhaps the effects of the recession would not be  felt so keenly, unemployment levels would be lower and our international competitive position would  be better. 2.2. The ESC's stance regarding the White Paper is generally positive. It views the text as being  of the greatest importance as a starting point for discussion and examination of problems relating  to the current situation in Europe and the outlook for the future. It also considers that the White Paper provides an accurate picture of European social and economic  developments, as well as of what is needed to bring about a smooth transition from the present  situation to the learning society of the future. Lastly, in the Committee's view, the text puts the real potential of education, training, knowledge  and skills into impartial and practical perspective and provides individuals with a response to the  upheavals currently experienced by the entire world community. These upheavals - the information  society, internationalization of the economy and the new scientific and technical culture which is  emerging - are providing impetus for change. At the same time, however, the ESC feels that the document should be more practicable and  transparent. It should be immediately comprehensible to the average, non-specialist European  citizen, particularly concerning the main and subsidiary aims and the specific actions which are  intended to achieve short-, medium- and long-term results. 2.3. The ESC believes that the aim of modernizing and upgrading educational and training systems  and, most of all, the aim of achieving a learning society, cannot be reached by the Member States  pursuing separate paths or strategies, or by summit-level discussions, investigations or choices.  The only way to bring this about is a comprehensive and consciously systematic social effort. This  social effort must possess a common and acceptable vehicle for coordination, common and acceptable  procedures for reconciling opposing views and common, clear and acceptable subordinate objectives. Only the EU and its bodies, particularly the Commission, can coordinate this social effort to bring  about a learning society. 3. Specific comments 3.1. Part one: the challenges 3.1.1. The ESC agrees with the descriptions and analyses in the White Paper as regards the  challenges and requirements of our time and the way to tackle them. It also agrees with the need to  make direct responses to the requirements of modern education and training, to prepare for the  future and to define an overall plan. However, it thinks it important to stress from the start the risk of the entire project remaining a  top-down effort, with all that implies for its prospects. The main question for the ESC as regards the transition from current reality to the learning  society is the conscious participation of all Europeans, if possible, in all the work and processes  of transition. This means openness to dialogue from the start, with measures to draw attention to the problem at  the level of society. This can be done in many ways and by different bodies, but always with the  central responsibility resting with the Commission. - It can be done by trade unions and employers' organizations, which have direct influence on their  members. - It can be done by the schools - of all levels and categories - which, apart from their special,  continuing relationship with their pupils, also have some access to their family environment. - It can be done by other NGOs and particularly by those connected with education and training. - Finally, it can be done by the mass media, but using methods and approaches to be selected and  defined by the Commission or its representatives. The ESC takes the view that Community action of such scale and extent could create a fourth,  equally stimulating, upheaval in European society. Such an upheaval would at the same time remove  the present confusion, throw light on the transition process and show how individuals should  operate in the new conditions leading to the learning society. 3.1.2. Implementing the above approach is a basic obligation of the EU towards European citizens,  and at the same time a basic precondition for the European citizen's participation in planned  action. The risk of marginalization mainly threatens those lacking knowledge - those who in the final  analysis do not have access to knowledge. The Europe of the new millennium has the obligation to  offer its citizens such access. 3.1.3. The ESC agrees with the Commission's approach to the question of general education of  citizens. It takes the view that the risks of dependence, isolation and alienation of the individual are  reduced when he or she acquires a high level of general education. It also thinks that an individual with a high level of general education is in a position to grasp  the essence of matters, to regard one-sided arguments sceptically, to filter information and check  on its reliability. He is in a position to comprehend complex situations and find the best  solutions to complex problems. Finally, he is in a position to work and cooperate creatively - a  necessary precondition - to ensure the quality and competitiveness of products. 3.1.4. The ESC feels that the White Paper on education and training does not deal with existing  educational systems directly or to the extent necessary. It would stress that, regardless of their differences, the existing educational systems of the  Member States present almost the same symptoms of rigidity. In particular, the schools responsible for general education, as they operate at present, require  immediate steps to achieve a fundamental change of course in the direction indicated by the White  Paper. The ESC is not calling for intervention by the Commission to standardize the Member States'  educational systems. On the contrary, their diversity is a resource to be safeguarded. What is  required at this stage is for the Commission to urge the Member States to reexamine the aims of  their educational systems and modernize the methods they use. 3.1.4.1. Commission action of this kind would bring the EU closer to its citizens, since it would  tackle their real problems and daily anxieties. 3.2. Part two: building the learning society 3.2.1. The Economic and Social Committee agrees with the Commission on the 'why`, 'how` and 'when`  of building the learning society, but would draw particular attention to the following: 3.2.2. It is essential to start building a learning society from the very early, pre-school, years.  In turn, independently of the type, form, content and aims of the programmes, the ESC thinks it  necessary for each teaching and training institution to operate also as an educational, cultural  and economic cell of each neighbourhood, community or region. Among other things, this means differentiating the framework and content of the educational  activities of each institution so that they correspond to real life, i.e. to the aims and needs of  the socio-economic setting. It also means substantial participation and co-responsibility in the  way and cost of running educational and training establishments, on the part of other  socio-economic bodies, the social partners, authorities and of local authorities. In the above context the school - as an educational, cultural and economic cell of the  neighbourhood - is open to its social surroundings and life in general, is linked with economic  activities, generates culture and creates conditions for the acquisition of skills and knowledge. As regards responsibilities, respect for the principle of subsidiarity should not stop at Member  State level. It must extend to that level of social organization where there are common, or almost  common, cultural features and economic activities. The above observation certainly does not detract from the reasons for the existence and development  of the European dimension in education. The European dimension for action includes general central planning for the future of education, to  a large extent educational research, and the cultivation of the common features in European  culture. 3.2.3. Also independently of the type, form and content of the programmes and the aims of each  educational establishment, the ESC regards education and training as serving simultaneously the  individual and society as a whole, the economy and culture. The entire system of education and training of an individual should provide that person with a  professional and psychological balance and help him to tackle problems and their scale rapidly and  correctly, as well as the substance and consequences of his views and actions within the group and  outside it. The existing educational systems do not offer specific timetables and age ranges which are enough  to provide Europeans with what the learning society and the economy require. There is therefore an urgent need for the individual to have urgent access to the benefits of  education and training; this requires a new approach to the question - an approach suggested by the  idea of lifelong learning and training. 3.2.4. The ESC agrees with the Commission on designating 1996 as European Year of Lifelong  Learning. It believes that the discussions already being held clarify the scope of the idea of lifelong  education and learning. They also clarify the range of relevant actions which belong - still in the  context of subsidiarity - to the local, national and European levels, or require levels of  cooperation between the European Union and the Member States. These discussions are inspired inter alia by the following basic principles: 3.2.4.1. The principle of adaptability In accordance with this principle, lifelong education and training is intended to help citizens  adapt to the constantly changing conditions of modern life and to enable each individual to  acquire, renew, upgrade and complete his knowledge and skills. 3.2.4.2. The principle of mobility The possibility for citizens to move freely between education, training and employment throughout  their lives is also a basic principle of lifelong education and training. This principle also covers the possibility for citizens to find opportunities among the various  levels and forms of education to continue their studies if and when they so wish. 3.2.4.3. The principle of totality Under this principle lifelong education and training is not confined to adult education: on the  contrary, it covers and unifies all educational stages and all forms of education and training. With the ultimate aim of individual fulfilment and the maintenance and improvement of quality of  life, lifelong education and training undoubtedly holds the key to communication between levels and  forms of education, as well as between education/training and all the manifestations of social life  and production processes. In other words it is the first key to the door of the learning society. 3.2.4.4. Utilization of human resources on this scale (all citizens) and depth (capacities of the  individual) means in practice a new dimension in the perception of life and of man. A primary  feature and aim of this approach is the conscious liberation, cultivation and utilization of the  maximum proportion of individual potential, for as long as possible. The preconditions for this are the strengthening of an attitude of openness in society and the  dynamic developed by such an attitude, as well as of the approach to investment in educational,  training and learning matters. 3.2.4.5. Fully aware of the question of lifelong education and training, the ESC would sum it up as  follows: - It regards lifelong education and training as an essential precondition for the further promotion  of the European economy and society. - In accordance with the subsidiarity principle, it takes the view that the European Union can and  must play an essential role in helping to formulate a unified approach both on what is meant by  lifelong education and learning and on how it can be promoted. To this end, it is necessary for the Commission to develop pilot programmes and/or support similar  programmes which are developed at local level. Necessary, too, is research on the adaptation of  educational programmes to the logic of lifelong education, and on the creation of accessible  education/training packages based on the same logic. Finally, the Commission should research and promote the introduction of the new communication  technologies into education and training systems. The ESC regards changing the logic of the present-day school as a precondition for the development  of lifelong education and training. It must be shown that the main purpose of existing school-based education - apart from the broad  general training of the pupil - should be to familiarize the pupil with ways of gaining access to,  and acquiring, knowledge. The educational principle 'learn how to learn` - the starting-point of lifelong education and  training - can and must be enshrined in school-based education. Finally, the ESC thinks it necessary to change the current relationship between education/training  and investment. It must be understood that investment in human resources also constitutes a form of primary  investment  - a precondition for survival and for wealth creation. To this end, the local authorities, the Member States and the institutions of the European Union  will have to adapt their investment strategy for education and training. Enterprises will also need to develop an investment strategy for education, especially with regard  to the continuous further education and training of the workforce. This requires cooperation among the social partners and support from political authorities, as well  as incentives in the relevant programmes of enterprises. 3.2.5. First general objective: 'Encourage the acquisition of new knowledge` With regard to the Commission's first general objective (to encourage the acquisition of new  knowledge) the ESC has the following comments to make: 3.2.5.1. It agrees in principle with the observation that achieving the learning society  presupposes encouragement for the acquisition of new knowledge -  something which is in principle a  matter for the Member States subject to the guidance given in the first part of the White Paper. At the same time it stresses that the acquisition of knowledge, and education in general, are one  of the primary rights of each individual, while the creation of conditions for education and  training is an obligation which society has to its members. In line with the above, the Community's efforts to support or strengthen national efforts in this  field cannot be subject to restrictions other than those of excessive cost or a cultural dimension.  (The use of electronic rather than only print media at school could offset such costs.) Consequently, the European dimension of education has open horizons before it, while its acceptance  will depend on the firmness of each step taken and on whether the relevant proposals meet real  needs and fill real gaps in the Member States' educational systems. 3.2.5.2. The Commission's exhortation to the Member States to set up 'Knowledge Resource Centres`,  to open up 'new methods of recognizing skills, over and above paper qualifications and initial  training`, to support mobility and to introduce the new communication technologies into the  education service is a serious and acceptable one. However, this exhortation would be more complete if it also contained a sentence on the need for an  increase in investment in education, in accordance with the much-mooted principle of high-quality  education and training for all. 3.2.5.3. As regards the actions at European level proposed by the Commission, the ESC has the  following comments to make: 3.2.5.3.1. It agrees in principle with the need for a different (simple and modern) approach to the  question of recognition of skills. It also agrees with the idea of establishing a European procedure, and with the argument that this  procedure should allow the recognition of skills on a voluntary basis throughout the individual's  lifetime. However, due attention must be paid to the questions of knowledge and skills, the relationships  between them, and the systems for their recognition and certification. The result of these procedures, i.e. the guarantee of certified knowledge and skills, will need to  be genuine and substantive. Only then can the idea be crystallized as an institution. And only then  can the institution operate as a stimulus for achieving the learning society. It is not a question of finding a few thousand European citizens who will enter into the spirit of  achieving the learning society and acquiring skills outside the existing systems. The problem is  rather how to develop a majority current moving in that direction: this will ultimately decide  whether the learning society is achieved. As regards both the procedure for the recognition of skills and the establishment of the  preconditions for achieving the learning society, the social partners have a central role which  they must play to the full. 3.2.5.3.2. Experience so far with the mobility of students under the Erasmus programme has shown  that great benefits derive from it. Moving to another Member State and living there for a while  provides the student with experiences, knowledge and new ideas for tackling the problems of his/her  own country, and at the same time cultivates in him/her a cross-cultural view of Europe and of  European society. In the light of the above, the ESC believes that only the financial factor can be allowed to limit  the mobility of students. The Committee agrees with the Commission's proposals in this area, and proposes the following to  complement them: - examining the feasibility of increasing the number of students taking part in the relevant  programmes, by allocating more funds or utilizing existing funds more rationally; - developing a special mobility programme for students and instructors in vocational training and  apprenticeship. 3.2.5.4. As regards 'multimedia educational software` the ESC judges that the time is ripe for  society as a whole to overcome the obstacles which naturally exist, and to take decisions on: - expressing the will to acquire European multimedia educational software; - overcoming cultural and linguistic differences in Europe (but not to the detriment of  diversity); - the method of selecting the enterprises which will put the whole project into practice; - training educators in the new technologies so that they are in a position to utilize them and  teach them to others. 3.2.6. Second general objective: 'Bring schools and the business sector closer together` With regard to the Commission's second general objective (to bring schools and the business sector  closer together) the ESC has the following comments to make: 3.2.6.1. It regards the link between schools and the world of production and business as a matter  of the utmost importance and as one of the basic preconditions for achieving the learning society. This link cannot be one-way. In accordance with 3.1.1 above, the relationship can be shown to  provide benefits both for individual schools and for individual firms. In particular SMEs whose range of action is essentially local must see the importance of  high-quality education for the range, quality and competitiveness of their products. In other words, they must see that it is in their interest for the source from which they draw  their workforce to be of high quality, and hence that there is a need for them to invest in  education in general. 3.2.6.2. In the context of the debate on bringing schools and the business sector closer together,  the ESC takes the opportunity to re-emphasize the importance it attaches to the overall upgrading  of vocational education and training. It takes the view that vocational education and training must be regarded as an equal partner with  other types of education. The combination of a high level of general education with vocational guidance and a high level of  initial vocational education and training and with apprenticeship probably constitutes a further  precondition for problem-free integration of young people into the labour market; by the same  token, lifelong education and training constitutes the precondition for workers to respond to the  need for constant modernization of work and production. 3.2.6.2.1. Upgrading vocational training would include: - Improvement of the systems for monitoring and guidance of young people throughout their initial  training. - Development in trainees of 'esprit de corps` and a cooperative approach to achieving common  goals. - The systematic briefing of instructors and trainees on practical life in enterprises, and the  inclusion of the 'entrepreneur` and 'business education` components in the detailed programmes of  training establishments. - The possibility for vocational education and training establishments to collaborate with  enterprises in general and especially in the area (social partners) on the planning and development  of joint training programmes and activities, within the enterprises, for their employees and  related to their work. - The possibility for these establishments to teach and train the entire personnel of the  enterprises on the basis of specific programmes. - The possibility of developing mobility and exchanges between students from various - especially  cross-frontier - regions of the European Union. - The possibility for the vocational education and training establishments to have access to  information sources on developments in the labour market, knowledge and technology. 3.2.6.2.2. The ESC thinks it important to safeguard the contribution of the European Centre for  Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) to the effort to improve and develop the measures  which will eventually be included in the White Paper. 3.2.6.3. Another essential means of bringing schools and the business sector closer together is  certainly to be found in apprenticeship and exchange-based training -  institutions which must be  encouraged, updated and promoted at European level, after consultation with the Member States and  the social partners. To this end it is necessary to: - use various incentives to support enterprises which accept and develop apprenticeship and  vocational training for their staff; - encourage and consolidate cooperation between schools and firms which will favour links and  interdependence; - promote the relevant cross-frontier regional cooperation measures. 3.2.6.4. Finally, the ESC thinks it essential for the schools/business relationship to be  strengthened and developed with the participation and co-responsibility of the social partners. Education and training can and must be a source of social cohesion and a way of mitigating all  forms and degrees of conflict. 3.2.7. Third general objective: 'Combat exclusion` The third general objective is proposed by the Commission as a response to the prospect of social  marginalization of large sections of the population as a result of their exclusion for various  reasons from the educational and employment systems. This proposal comprises the following aspects: (a) second chance schools; (b) European voluntary service. 3.2.7.1. The ESC feels that the Commission is right to stress the need to give a second opportunity  for social integration to young people who have been excluded or are likely to be excluded from the  educational system. The ESC highlights the right of children to knowledge and culture. Second chance schools in the form proposed by the Commission, given the preconditions for their  operation, certainly constitute a desirable and acceptable solution. However, this solution remains just an alternative and must be regarded as such. In other words,  the 'first choice` school is the one which bears the responsibility for preventing the exclusion of  young people, and for giving them a true, complete, general and specialized education. To this end, the ESC believes it is high time for special weight to be given to education as a  whole and for operating conditions of schools to be generally and substantially upgraded; in brief,  this means: - strengthening interconnections between school and family; - better education, continuing further education, more recognition of teachers' work and better  salaries; - better working conditions, lower teacher/pupil ratios, modern and acceptable teaching and  learning premises; - modern, detailed programmes, means (including development of fully-developed library systems) and  methods of teaching, making full use of new technologies and information technology in learning; - support for weaker pupils in the school, with teachers providing specialized and/or general in  school assistance. 3.2.7.2. On the basis of current data 'second chance` schools - which, as stated, have been part of  a pilot programme so far - can be a means of social integration or reintegration for those young  people who through a combination of circumstances remained on the margin of the educational system  and hence of the employment system. It is enough for these schools to have as their main aim the  reincorporation of young people into the general system, instead of becoming 'ghettos`, i.e.  schools where marginalization is in practice intensified. The ESC supports in principle the idea of second chance schools, while drawing attention to the  following: - the programmes and mode of operation of these schools should be essentially the responsibility of  local society (local authorities, social partners, other NGOs); - assessment of the results achieved by these schools should involve representatives of the  official educational system of the Member State where the school is located, and indeed of the  European Union; - funding of these schools should be shared where possible by the local authority, the Member State  and the EU, on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with objective financial possibilities; - in cases of cooperation agreements between a school and a specific small, medium-sized or large  local enterprise it is clear that the enterprise concerned would have an obligation to participate  in the funding of the school, just as it would participate in planning its work and assessing its  results. 3.2.7.3. The school system must be sufficiently flexible for people to be able to come back for a  second chance while still young. The Committee also wishes to stress the need for a second chance  for adults with a low level of basic education, to prevent unemployment and exclusion on account of  insufficient or out-of-date basic education. 3.2.7.4. As regards the development of a European voluntary service, the ESC supports the  Commission's proposals and reiterates the views it expressed recently in its Opinion on European  voluntary work for young people (). 3.2.8. Fourth general objective: 'Proficiency in three Community languages` Communication between European languages is certainly an as yet unsolved problem. That said, European linguistic diversity constitutes a cultural heritage of inestimable value,  which is worth maintaining and cultivating. The Commission's proposed objective of each European being able to communicate in at least two  languages other than his mother tongue is a very important but also very ambitious one. 3.2.8.1. The ESC agrees with this objective. However, it is more inclined to agree with the view that children should start learning their first  foreign language in primary school and their second Community language in secondary. In the context of agreements on the protection of lesser-used Community languages, the Committee  also agrees with the idea that the first foreign language learned should be the medium for teaching  certain subjects at secondary level. 3.2.8.2. The ESC believes that the learning of Community languages should not stop at compulsory  education. There must also be later opportunities for access to systems of familiarization with and  learning of new foreign languages. This aim can be achieved through continuing education and training and a policy of incentives. The teaching and knowledge of three Community languages should be placed in the broader context of  a cross-cultural and multicultural approach to education. The teaching of the three languages can effectively be facilitated by supporting the teaching of  European languages to the children of Europeans living outside their country of origin. 3.2.8.3. At all events, the ESC endorses the specific measures proposed by the Commission for  Community support for the project, and sees a need for systematic research on new methods of  learning foreign languages which make the whole process more accessible and attractive. To this end the Commission must play its part by taking appropriate initiatives or backing up  initiatives by other bodies. 3.2.8.4. The ESC also believes that a technological approach would help to solve the problem of  communication between European languages. To this end the Commission should take an initiative to investigate existing scientific and  technological possibilities and their future prospects, with a view to overcoming the problem by  technological means. 3.2.9. Fifth general objective: 'Treat capital investment and investment in training on an equal  basis` This objective is both the most distant and the least accessible. Achieving it depends on changing  the mind-set of centuries and the way of approaching the whole problem. The Committee agrees with the Commission's emphasis on the need for a different policy of  investment in knowledge and skills, and would stress the following in particular: 3.2.9.1. It regards motivation of and support for individuals (young and old, whether employed or  not) as an essential responsibility of the Member States and the European Union, with a view to  constant investment in knowledge and skills. In order to fulfil this responsibility the Member States will need to link the sums invested by  individuals in knowledge and skills with incentives, while the EU will need to assist with support  for relevant initiatives, investigation, assessment and diffusion of the best available incentive  mechanisms, as well as by seeking to harmonize the relevant systems. 3.2.9.2. It also feels that enterprises have a great responsibility, as regards their own future  and the competitiveness of their products, for reviewing the question of investment in research,  knowledge and skills. In particular, the ESC urges enterprises to develop their staff training and investment in  research, knowledge and skills as a long-term priority, and to avoid the easy way out - that of  reducing such expenditure. On the other hand, the Committee agrees with the Commission's suggestion 'that part of the  expenditure on training and salaries during the training period can be considered as depreciable  intangible fixed assets and transferred accordingly on the balance sheet`. 3.2.9.3. It thinks it necessary for the Member States to make investment in education and training  their top priority. The policy followed hitherto of relating expenditure on research, education and training to  short-term economic trends must be reversed. 3.2.9.4. It feels that the EU's role, and particularly that of the Commission, is important with a  view to achieving the fifth general objective. This role involves pointing out the need for an overall, complete, long-term policy of investment  in knowledge and skills. It involves researching, recording and making the most of all the factors which give knowledge and  skills their current substance, content and value. Finally, it involves coordinating the effort to change a central social attitude - the attitude  which regards education only as general, vocational training only as initial and investment in  training and skills as a social obligation only towards young people, and always for a limited  period. 3.2.10. The Economic and Social Committee takes the view that the main and the subordinate  objectives set out in the White Paper on education and training are difficult to achieve. On these objectives, however, depends the survival of Europe as an economic entity and as a  historical approach to life, the individual and society. Hence there is no doubt that they must be achieved. Debate must continue to centre on how to achieve these objectives more easily, more rapidly and if  possible in a way which involves all European citizens. The ESC expects and undertakes to  participate in the whole of this debate. 4. Conclusions 4.1. The White Paper on education and training certainly constitutes the basis and starting-point  for an overall, multi-faced inquiry into the course which Europe will choose to follow at the start  of the 21st century. In this light, the ESC regards the development and modernization of education and training as a  necessary precondition for the fuller development of the economic, social and cultural life of the  European Union. It also compares the political will and declarations in favour of growth,  competitiveness and employment with the level of investment for those purposes, which should be  proportional. 4.2. The ESC takes the view that, going beyond the question of investment, and in accordance with  the relevant articles of the Treaty and the principle of subsidiarity, the very scale of the  problem and the vital nature of the aims linked with it call for careful steps and well-prepared  choices. It should not escape anyone's notice that decisions taken now on learning, education and training  will have a decisive influence, even twenty years from now, on Europeans' mode of thought, attitude  to life and the individual, and the values of their system. In other words, depending on their  capacity to be competitive, it will ultimately determine their chances of survival. 4.3. In line with the above approach, the ESC regards the choices and the path leading to the  learning society as a matter for the whole of European society, a matter for every European. For this reason it also insists that: - the problem be dealt with at the level of the whole society, with a dialogue opened from the  start in the context of specific measures; - conditions be created for the real participation of citizens in the whole process; - agreements be sought on questions of principle and on the definition of intermediate objectives  leading to the learning society, and of the way to achieve them. 4.4. Questions of principle relating to learning, education and training can include the  following: - the choice between selection on the one hand, and on the other education and training of high  quality for all throughout their lives (the ESC would opt for the second choice); - the choice of who pays the cost of education and training, and how: on this question the ESC  stresses that it regards education and training as benefits which a democratic state is obliged to  guarantee to all its citizens without exception; - the choice of the place in the programmes and content of studies to be occupied by humanist  values, the cultivation of a democratic and social awareness in pupils, the cultivation of  tolerance and solidarity towards fellow-beings and particularly towards the helpless, the  recognition and acceptance of the diversity of human beings in terms of age, colour, race, sex,  religion and ideology (here, too, the ESC's choice is positive). 4.5. In conclusion, the ESC would stress the following as regards the aims and actions proposed in  the White Paper on building the learning society: - it regards the five objectives set by the White Paper as key aims for building the learning  society; however, it stresses that at least one more central aim should be added to these: that of  the humanist dimension of the learning society; - it regards the relevant proposed actions at European level as important - but ineffectual if they  are not accompanied by specific financial allocation; - at all events, the ESC regards the White Paper on education and training as a positive and  important contribution by the Commission to the future of the European Union. The various forces  weaving and interweaving in the construction of the European Union and of the learning society will  determine in future whether the White Paper becomes a point of reference for the aspirations of  today's European citizens, but also a document corresponding to the expectations of the new world  which technological and scientific developments, the information society and the  internationalization of the economy are building day by day. Done at Brussels, 10  July 1996. The President of the Economic and Social Committee Carlos FERRER () CES 400/96.