Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 on lifelong learning
Date: 2002-06-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: access to education, continuing education, cooperation policy, dissemination of information, employment policy

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 27 June 2002

on lifelong learning

(2002/C 163/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Whereas

(1) Education and training are an indispensable means for
promoting social cohesion, active citizenship, personal
fulfilment, adaptability and employa-
and professional
free mobility for
bility. Lifelong learning facilitates
the
European citizens and allows the achievement of
goals and aspirations of European Union countries (i.e.
to become more prosperous, competitive, tolerant and
democratic). It should enable all persons to acquire the
necessary knowledge to take part as active citizens in the
knowledge society and the labour market.

(2) The action set out in this resolution respects the Charter
of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in
particular its Article 14, which declares that everyone
has the right to education and to have access to voca-
tional and continuing training.

(3) At the end of the European Year of Lifelong Learning in
1996, the Council adopted Conclusions on a strategy for
lifelong learning, specifying a number of key principles
for a lifelong learning strategy (1).

(4) The November 1997 extraordinary Luxembourg European
Council introduced increased employability and ability for
adaptation through training, as priority issues within its
employment guidelines and lifelong learning has since
then become a horizontal objective of
the European
employment strategy.

(5) The March 2000 Lisbon European Council

the
strategic objective for the European Union to become
the world's most dynamic knowledge-based economy,
which includes key elements such as the development
of lifelong learning for everyone.

set

(6) The June 2000 Feira European Council

the Council and the Commission,

invited the
Members States,
to
identify coherent strategies and practical measures to
promote lifelong learning, and to make it accessible to
all. This was reaffirmed by the March 2001 Stockholm
European Council. At
the same occasion the Feira
European Council reiterated the need to promote the
involvement of social partners and to harness the full
potential of public and private financing.

(7) The Council

(Education) gave

its opinion on the
employment package at
its meeting of 29 November
2001, stressing the role of lifelong learning as a clear
priority in national employment policies.

(8) A report on lifelong learning was presented to the
Ministers for Education of the Union and the candidate
countries at their conference in Riga in June 2001. At this
meeting, Ministers gave a mandate for a follow-up report
on ‘Quality indicators of lifelong learning’, which will be
in
presented at
Bratislava in June 2002.

the meeting of Education Ministers

(9) The adoption in February 2001 of the Council Report
‘Objectives of the education and training systems’ and
the adoption in February 2002 of the work programme
for this decade on the follow-up of this report constitute
to
an important step in taking on the commitment
modernise and improve the quality of the education and
training systems of the Member States.

(10) The conclusions (2) approved by the Council (Education/
Youth) of 14 February 2002 positively received the
proposals in the Commission's White Paper
‘A new
impetus for European youth’ for taking more account of
specific aspects of youth in other Community actions
such as lifelong learning.

(1) OJ C 7, 10.1.1997, p. 6.

(2) OJ C 119, 22.5.2002, p. 6.

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its conviction that

(11) The March 2002 Barcelona European Council, as a result
of
lifelong learning constitutes a
priority domain of the Lisbon strategy, requested that a
Resolution concerning lifelong learning be adopted before
the
the Seville European Council,
European employment strategy,

taking into account

NOTES that, although Europe is a point of reference in many
fields, and has the proven ability to convert ideas into inno-
vative products and services, access to lifelong learning is still
not a reality for many citizens.

and informal

STRESSES that lifelong learning must cover learning from the
pre-school age to that of post-retirement, including the entire
formal, non-formal
spectrum of
learning.
lifelong learning must be understood as all
Furthermore,
learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of
improving knowledge,
and competences within a
personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective.
Finally, the principles in this context should be: the individual
as the subject of learning, highlightning the importance of an
authentic equality of opportunities, and quality in learning.

skills

ACKNOWLEDGES that priority should be given to the following:

— providing access to lifelong learning opportunities for all,
including specific actions aimed at the
regardless of age,
most disadvantaged persons,
those not participating in
education and training, as well as migrants, as a means
of facilitating their social integration,

— providing opportunities to acquire and/or update basic
skills,
including the new basic skills, such as IT skills,
foreign languages, technological culture, entrepreneurship
and social skills,

— the training, recruitment and updating of

teachers and

trainers for the development of lifelong learning,

— the effective validation and recognition of formal qualifi-
cations as well as non-formal and informal learning, across
countries and educational sectors through increased trans-
parency and better quality assurance,

the contribution of

the youth
STRESSES the importance of
sector
towards defining global and coherent strategies on
lifelong learning by highlighting the value of non-formal and
informal
learning in the youth field and by defining the
priorities for lifelong learning in this context.

— the high quality and broad accessibility of target group
specific information, guidance and counselling concerning
lifelong learning opportunities and their benefits,

WELCOMES the Commission's Communication of November
2001 entitled ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a
lifelong
reality’, which is based on the Memorandum of
learning of November 2000 and the feedback from the wide
document.
consultation
Furthermore, welcomes
this Communication
established lifelong learning as one of the guiding principles
for education and training, and recognises the relevance of the
building blocks for lifelong learning strategies and the priorities
for action identified in the Communication.

throughout

the fact

Europe

that

this

on

REAFFIRMS:

1. that convergence of

the Commission's Communication
entitled ‘Making a European area of
lifelong learning a
reality’ with the work programme on the follow-up of the
objectives of the education and training systems is to be
to achieve a comprehensive and
promoted,
coherent strategy for education and training;

in order

— encouraging

sectors,
including the youth sector, in existing or future networks
and structures, working in this area;

representation

relevant

the

of

INVITES THE MEMBER STATES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF
THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. to develop and implement comprehensive and coherent
reflecting the principles and building blocks
in the Commission's Communication and
the social

strategies
identified
involving all
partners, civil society, local and regional authorities;

relevant players,

in particular

2.

in conjunction with the European employment strategy, to
mobilise the resources for such strategies and to promote
lifelong learning for all, by:

2. that lifelong learning should be enhanced by the actions and
policies developed within the framework of the European
employment strategy, the action plan for skills and mobility,
the Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth Community
programmes, the e-Learning initiative, and in the research
and innovation actions, among others.

— setting targets for an increase in investment in human
resources, including lifelong learning, and optimising use
of available resources,

— developing initiatives to stimulate private investment in

learning,

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— considering a more targeted use of Community funding
resources, including the European Investment Bank;

Community education and training instruments and the
European employment strategy;

3. to promote learning at the workplace, in cooperation with
social

education and training establishments and the
partners;

4. to improve the education and training of

teachers and
trainers involved in lifelong learning so that they acquire
the necessary teaching skills for the knowledge society, thus
promoting among other aims general access to language
learning, access for all to ICTs, and increased participation
in scientific and technical studies;

5. to encourage cooperation and effective measures to validate
for building bridges between
learning outcomes, crucial
formal, non-formal and informal
learning and thus a
prerequisite for the creation of a European area of lifelong
learning;

6. to develop target group specific information, guidance and
advice including the provision of appropriate tools for
making available information on education and training
and job opportunities;

7. to develop strategies for identifying and increasing the
participation of groups excluded from the knowledge
society as a result of low basic skill levels;

8. to improve

active participation in lifelong

learning,

including young people;

INVITES THE COMMISSION:

1. to promote and coordinate, in close cooperation with the
Council and in an integrated and convergent manner, the
actions resulting from the Commission's Communication
entitled ‘Making a European area of
lifelong learning a
reality’, through the work programme for the follow-up of
the objectives of the education and training systems, other

to foster efficient performance in all

2. to stimulate quality incentives and the exchange of good
sectors
practices
involved in formal, non-formal and informal
learning
including by setting up a European database on good
practices in the field of lifelong learning;

3. to promote, in close cooperation with the Council and the
Member States,
increased cooperation in education and
training based on the issues of transparency and quality
assurance, in order to develop a framework for recognition
the
of qualifications, building on the achievements of
Bologna process and promoting similar action in the area
of vocational training. Such cooperation should ensure the
active involvement of the social partners, vocational and
educational
relevant
stakeholders;

training institutions and the other

4. to promote target group specific information and guidance
actions that favour improved awareness of opportunities for
learning and working throughout Europe;

5. to promote the participation of candidate countries in the

development of lifelong learning strategies;

6. to enhance cooperation with relevant international organi-
sations, e.g. the Council of Europe, the OECD and Unesco,
in the development of
lifelong learning policies and
concrete actions;

7. to prepare,

in cooperation with the Member States, a
progress report on the follow-up to its Communications
and to this Resolution before the spring European Council
of 2004.

INVITES the Member States and the Commission to suggest
concrete actions to implement the content of this Resolution,
by promoting cooperation between all key actors, and within
the scope of the Treaty.