Council conclusions of 25 May 2007 on a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training
Date: 2007-05-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU statistics, action programme, data collection, economic growth, education policy, educational system, project evaluation, vocational training

21.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/13

Council conclusions of 25 May 2007 on a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks for
monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training

(2007/C 311/10)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

on the social and economic situation of students in partici-
pating countries, as a basis for future stocktaking (5);

HAVING REGARD TO:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

the Spring 2000 Lisbon European Council's call
for
Europe's education and training systems to be modernised
in response to the demands of a knowledge-based economy
and the increasing socio-economic and demographic chal-
lenges confronting the Union in a globalised world (1);

the March 2002 Barcelona European Council conclusions,
which set the overall goal of making European education
and training systems ‘a world quality reference by 2010’ and
which, with that aim in view, endorsed a set of common
objectives for the improvement of those systems (2);

the detailed work programme on the follow-up of those
common objectives — generally referred to as the ‘Educa-
tion and Training 2010’ work programme — which
indicators to be used for
included an indicative list of
measuring progress towards the implementation of the thir-
teen concrete objectives through the open method of coor-
dination;

the Council conclusions of 5 May 2003, which established
a set of reference levels of European average performance
in education and training (benchmarks) to be used as ‘one of
the tools for monitoring the implementation of the detailed work
programme’ (3);

the Maastricht Communiqué of 14 December 2004, in the
the Copenhagen process, which made the
context of
improvement of
the scope, precision and reliability of
VET statistics a priority, arguing that adequate data and
indicators are the key to understanding what is happening
interventions and decision-
in VET and that additional
making are required by all parties involved (4);

6.

in the
the Bergen Communiqué of 19-20 May 2005,
context of the Bologna process, which called for compar-
able data on the mobility of staff and students, as well as

(1) Presidency conclusions, Lisbon, 23-24 March 2000 (SN 100/00, para-

graph 2).

(2) Presidency conclusions, Barcelona, 15-16 March 2002 (SN 100/02,

paragraph 43).

(3) Council conclusions on reference levels of European average perfor-
mance in education and training (Benchmarks) (OJ C 134, 7.6.2003,
p. 3).

(4) Communication of the Conference of European Ministers responsible
for Vocational Education and Training on the future priorities of
enhanced European co-operation in Vocational Education and Training
(Copenhagen process), Maastricht, 14 December 2004.

7.

8.

9.

the Council conclusions of 24 May 2005, which invited the
Commission to report back to the Council on ‘progress made
towards the establishment of a coherent framework of indicators
and benchmarks for following-up the Lisbon objectives in the area
of education and training’ (6);

the Council conclusions of 19 May 2006, which invited the
Commission to report back to the Council on progress in
developing a European Indicator of Language Compe-
tence (7);

the Council conclusions of 13 November 2006, which
called on the Commission to devote ‘attention to the develop-
ment of the VET components within the coherent framework of
indicators and benchmarks’;

10. the Council's key messages in the field of education and
training to the Spring 2007 European Council, which
emphasised that ‘educational policies and practices require a
stronger evidence base’ and that ‘there is a need to develop a
culture of evaluation and research’ (8);

11. the Commission communication of 22 February 2007
entitled ‘a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks for
monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education
and training’, which proposes 20 core indicators that the
Commission considers coherent with the policy objectives
under
2010’ work
and
programme (9).

‘Education

Training

the

(5) Communication of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible
for Higher Education — ‘The European Higher Education Area —
Achieving the goals’ (Bologna Process), Bergen, 19-20 May 2005.

(6) Council conclusions of 24 May 2005 on new indicators in education

and training (OJ C 141, 10.6.2005, p. 7).

(7) Council conclusions on the European Indicator of Language Compe-

tence (OJ C 172, 25.7.2006, p. 1).

(8) Contribution of the Council (in the field of education) to the Spring

European Council, doc. 5625/07, p. 3.

(9) 1. Participation in pre-school education; 2. special needs education; 3.
early school leavers; 4. literacy in reading, mathematics and science; 5.
language skills; 6. ICT skills; 7. civic skills; 8. learning to learn skills; 9.
upper-secondary completion rates of young people; 10. school
management; 11. schools as multi-purpose local learning centres; 12.
professional development of teachers and trainers; 13. stratification of
education and training systems; 14. higher education graduates; 15.
cross-national mobility of students in higher education; 16. participa-
tion of adults in lifelong learning; 17. adults' skills; 18. educational
attainment of the population; 19. investment in education and training;
20. returns to education and training.

C 311/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

21.12.2007

TAKES NOTE OF:

RECOGNISES:

the report on progress made in developing a European Indicator
of Language Competence, as outlined in the Commission
communication of 13 April 2007 entitled ‘Framework for the
competences’ (1),
European survey
including the
intention to ensure that, before subsequent
Commission's
the official European
the survey covers all
rounds of
languages taught in the European Union.

on language

tests,

CONSIDERS THAT:

the importance of concerted and continuous efforts to develop
a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks in close
cooperation between the Member States and the Commission,

the Commission communication entitled ‘A coherent framework of
indicators and benchmarks for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon
objectives in education and training’ as an important step towards
the establishment of such a framework,

that defining a coherent framework of indicators and bench-
marks is a continuous and consultative process, as regards both
the selection of new indicators and the definition of the indivi-
dual concrete indicators.

the ‘Education and Training 2010’ work programme constitutes
the strategic framework for the Council's work in the field of
education and training,

Accordingly INVITES THE COMMISSION:

discussions on future policy orientations to follow up on the
‘Education and Training 2010’ work programme are now begin-
ning and should be stepped up in the years ahead,

identifying, defining and implementing a coherent framework of
indicators is an ongoing process, which must be synchronised
with the strategic framework provided by the 2010 work
programme and its eventual successor.

REAFFIRMS THAT:

the development of new indicators shall
the
responsibility of Member States for the organisation of their
education systems and should not impose undue administrative
or
financial burdens on the organisation and institutions
concerned,

fully respect

periodic monitoring of performance and progress through the
use of indicators and benchmarks is an essential part of the
Lisbon process, allowing strengths and weaknesses to be identi-
fied with a view to providing strategic guidance to the ‘Educa-
tion and Training 2010’ work programme,

the five benchmarks adopted by the Council in May 2003 are of
continuing relevance in guiding policy actions within the 2010
work programme,

there is a need to continue to improve the quality of data
produced by the European Statistical System,
in particular to
ensure valid, internationally comparable and, where appropriate,
gender-specific data,

there is a parallel need to continue to enhance cooperation with
other international organisations active in this field, in order to
improve international data coherence and comparability,
to
avoid duplication and to satisfy EU data needs that cannot be
met within the European Statistical System (ESS).

(1) Doc. 8387/07 — COM(2007) 184 final.

— to make use of, or further develop, sixteen of the proposed

core indicators, as outlined below:

(a) with regard to those indicators which can largely be
based on existing data and whose definition is already
broadly established,

— to make full use of the following indicators:

— participation in pre-school education,

— early school leavers,

— literacy in reading, mathematics and science,

— upper-secondary completion rates of young

people,

— higher education graduates,

— participation of adults in lifelong learning,

— cross-national mobility of

students

in higher

education,

— educational attainment of the population;

— and to report back to the Council in the event of

any major new developments;

(b) with regard to those indicators which can largely be
based on existing data and whose definition still needs
further clarification,

to the Council,

to submit
for further consideration,
information on the definition of the following indica-
tors:

— special needs education,

— ICT skills,

— investment in education and training,

including their composition, data sources, costs and
other relevant technical specifications;

21.12.2007

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/15

(c) with regard to those indicators which are still

in the
process of development in co-operation with other inter-
national organisations;

— the detailed technical specifications of any proposed new

survey,

— the availability and relevance of existing data at national

— to pursue the development of indicators on:

level,

— civic skills,

— adult skills,

— professional development of

teachers and trai-

ners;

— and to report back to the Council in due course, in
particular on the participation of EU Member States
and the coverage of EU data needs;

(d) with regard to those indicators which are still

in the
process of development and which would be based on
new EU surveys,

— to further examine the development of indicators on:

— language skills,

— learning to learn skills,

— and to report back to the Council on the results in

due course.

Before proceeding with any new surveys relating to the indi-
cators referred to in sections (c) and (d) above, the Commis-
sion shall submit the relevant reports to the Council for
the following
consideration. These reports should cover
aspects, as appropriate:

— the comparability of the data,

— a timetable for the development work to be undertaken,

— an estimate of the infrastructure required for such devel-
opment work and subsequent data collection, as well as
of the likely costs to be incurred by the Community and
by the Member States involved,

— appropriate management

structures,
enabling Member States to be involved in methodolo-
gical and development work;

support

and

— to continue its work on the development of a coherent
framework of indicators and benchmarks, drawing on the
and
expertise of
Benchmarks, the Advisory Board on the European Indicator
of Language Competence and other relevant expert groups
of national representatives, and to report back regularly to
the Council.

the Standing Group on Indicators

INVITES THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION TO:

— closely cooperate in the development and implementation of
indicators and benchmarks,

a coherent
including the improvement of the statistical basis,

framework of

— work towards the objective that the indicators in that frame-

— the political relevance of the indicators,

work should cover all Member States.