COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Early Childhood Education and Care: Providing all our children with the best start for the world of tomorrow
Date: 2011-02-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: anti-discriminatory measure, child protection, education

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.2.2011 
COM(2011) 66 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Early Childhood Education and Care: Providing all our children with the best start for 
the world of tomorrow 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Early Childhood Education and Care: Providing all our children with the best start for 
the world of tomorrow 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Europe's  future  will  be  based  on  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth.  Improving  the 
quality and effectiveness of education systems across the EU is essential to all three growth 
dimensions.  In  this  context,  Early  Childhood  Education  and  Care  (ECEC)  is  the  essential 
foundation for successful lifelong learning, social integration, personal development and later 
employability. Complementing the central role of the family, ECEC has a profound and long-
lasting  impact  which  measures  taken  at  a  later  stage  cannot  achieve.  Children's  earliest 
experiences  form  the  basis  for  all  subsequent  learning.  If  solid  foundations  are  laid  in  the 
early years, later learning is more effective and is more likely to continue life-long, lessening 
the risk of early school leaving, increasing the equity of educational outcomes and reducing 
the costs for society in terms of lost talent and of public spending on social, health and even 
justice systems.1  

The  flagship  initiative  ‘Youth  on  the  Move’  as  part  of  the  EU's  overarching  Europe  2020 
Strategy  highlights  the  role  of  creativity  and  innovation  for  our  competitiveness  and  for  the 
preservation  of  our  standards  of  living  in  the  longer  term.  Against  this  background,  it 
underlines that we must offer all our young people the chance to develop their talents to the 
fullest  possible  extent.  ECEC  has  the  potential  to  give  all  young  people  a  good  start  in  the 
world of tomorrow and to break the cycle which transmits disadvantage from one generation 
to another.  

The  benefits  of  high-quality  ECEC  are  wide-ranging:  social,  economic  and  educational. 
ECEC has a crucial role to play in laying the foundations for improved competences of future 
EU citizens, enabling us to meet the medium- and long-term challenge, and to create a more 
skilled workforce capable of contributing and adjusting to technological change as set out in 
the  flagship  ‘Agenda  for  new  skills  and  jobs’2.  There  is  clear  evidence  that  participation  in 
high quality ECEC leads to significantly better attainment in international tests on basic skills, 
such as PISA and PIRLS, equivalent to between one and two school years of progress.3 

High  quality  ECEC  enables  parents  better  to  reconcile  family  and  work  responsibilities,  so 
boosting employability. ECEC supports children, not only in their future education but also in 
their  integration  into  society,  generating  well-being,  and  contributing  to  their  employability 
when they become adults.4  

ECEC is also particularly beneficial for the disadvantaged, including those from migrant and 
low-income backgrounds. It can help to lift children out of poverty and family dysfunction, 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Commission Communication ‘Efficiency and Equity in Education and Training Systems’ (COM (2006) 
481)  
Commission Communication ‘An Agenda for new skills and jobs: A European contribution towards full 
employment’ (COM(2010)682) 
OECD  PISA  2009  results  Vol.2:  Overcoming  Social  Background  (2010)  pp  97-8;  IEA,  PIRLS  2006 
International Report, (2007) p. 158  
Council Conclusions of 26.11.2009 on the education of children with a migrant background (OJ 2009/C 
301/07)  

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and  so  contribute  to  achieving  the  goals  of  the  Europe  2020  flagship  initiative  European 
Platform against Poverty.5 

High  quality  early  childhood  education  and  care  can  make  a  strong  contribution  -  through 
enabling  and  empowering  all  children  to  realise  their  potential  -  to  achieving  two  of  the 
Europe 2020 headline targets in particular: reducing early school leaving to below 10%, and 
lifting at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion.  

Current situation and the role of the EU  

Up to now, the focus of most EU level action has been on increasing the quantity of childcare 
and pre-primary places to enable more parents, especially mothers, to join the labour market. 
At the 2002 Barcelona European Council Member States agreed by 2010 to provide full-day 
places in formal childcare arrangements to at least 90% of children aged between three and 
compulsory school age, and to at least 33% of children under three. Progress has been uneven. 
For  0-3  year  olds,  five  countries  have  exceeded  the  33%  target,  and  five  others  are 
approaching it, but the majority is falling behind, with eight achieving only 10% or less.6 For 
the  over  3  year  olds,  eight  countries  have  exceeded  the  90%  target  and  three  others  are 
approaching  it,  but  coverage  is  below  70%  in  close  to  one  third  of  the  Member  States.  In 
2009, Education Ministers reinforced this approach by setting a new European benchmark for 
at least 95% of children between age 4 and the start of compulsory education to participate in 
ECEC  by  2020.  As  the  following  chart  shows,  the  current  EU  average  is  92.3%  with  a 
significant number of countries lagging far behind. 

Participation in early childhood education, 2008 (%)

Evolution 2000-2008 (% relative change)

100.0

99.5

99.5

99.0

98.8

97.8

97.3

95.6

95.1

94.6

94.6

94.3

92.3

91.8

90.9

90.4

90.3

88.9

88.5

87.0

82.8

79.1

78.4

77.8

0
2
0
2

k
r
a
m
h
c
n
e
B

72.0

70.9

68.2

67.5

France
Netherlands
Belgium
Spain
Italia
Malta
United Kingdom
Germany
Estonia
Hungary
Sweden
Luxembourg
EU27
Denmark
Czech Republic
Slovenia
Austria
Latvia
Cyprus
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Ireland
Finland
Greece
Poland

0.0

0.0

0.4

-1.0

-1.2

-2.2

-2.7

-0.5

0.8

1.0

100
99.7
99.3
98.9
98.8
98.1
95.1
94.5
94
93.9
93.6
92.7
92.6
-4.0
90.7
90.7
89.2
88.8
88.2
86.7
84.7
81.8
79.8
79.4
76.6
-3.5
71.1
69.8
68.2
66.8

-1.6

15.7

9.4

13.1

7.8

6.1

6.8

3.9

6.8

10.2

22.4

35.8

36.8

28.3

28.5

15.7

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Source: DG EAC – Data source: Eurostat – UOE 7 

There  remains  therefore  an  important  challenge  to  extend  coverage  of  pre-school  provision. 
But  the  quality  of  ECEC  must  also  be  high.  Member  States  have  therefore  in  recent  years 
stated  their  wish  to  cooperate  more  closely  at  EU  level  on  issues  relating  to  increasing  the 

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Council  Conclusions  of  11.05.2010  on  the  social  dimension  of  education  and  training  (OJ  2010/C 
135/02)  
Commission  Staff  Working  Document  ‘Implementation  of  the  Barcelona  objectives  concerning 
childcare facilities for pre-school age children’ (SEC (2008) 2524)  
For  the  United  Kingdom  there  is  a  break  in  series  between  2002  and  2003  (earlier  figures  are 
overestimated). For Greece 2008 is replaced by 2007 data.  

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quality  of  ECEC.  In  2006,  Ministers  stated  that  ECEC  can  bring  the  highest  rates  of  return 
over  the  lifelong  learning  cycle,  especially  for  the  disadvantaged.8  In  2008  they  agreed  a 
series  of  priorities  for  cooperation  at  EU  level  on  school  policy  issues,  including  how  to 
ensure  accessible,  high-quality  pre-school  provision,9  and  in  2009  they  adopted  a  strategic 
framework  for  cooperation  in  education  and  training  until  2020,  which  included  among  the 
priorities for the period 2009-2011 'to promote generalised equitable access and reinforce the 
quality of the provision and teacher support' in pre-primary education'.10  

Given its role in reducing early school leaving and promoting social inclusion in education, 
ECEC  will  form  part  of  Member  States’  strategies  to  address  the  Europe  2020  priorities. 
Many Member States are intensifying their efforts to examine and reform their entire ECEC 
systems, starting from very different positions in relation to enrolment rates, supply, quality, 
resources, conception and governance of ECEC.  

While  this  is  an  area  which  essentially  falls  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Member  States, 
there  is  considerable  scope  for  the  EU  to  add  value  to  this  process,  by  facilitating  the 
identification  and  exchange  of  good  practice,  by  encouraging  the  development  of 
infrastructure  and  capacity  in  ECEC,  and  by  supporting  EU-wide  research  into  different 
aspects of ECEC quality and impact.  

This  Communication  responds  to  the  requests  from  Member  States  to  launch  a  process  of 
cooperation which will help them address the two-fold challenge outlined above: to provide 
access to child care and education for all, but also to raise the quality of their provision 
through well integrated services that build on a joint vision of the role of ECEC, of the most 
effective  curricular  frameworks  and  of 
the  staff  competences  and  governance 
arrangements necessary to deliver it.  

Examples of some of the best practice in the world in ECEC can already be found within EU 
Member  States.  The  Commission  intends  to  use  the  open  method  of  coordination  to  help 
Member States identify, analyse and spread effective policy approaches in ECEC and transfer 
them  to  their  own  contexts.  It  will  use  existing  instruments  such  as  the  Lifelong  Learning 
Programme  and  the  Structural  Funds  to  support  innovation,  staff  development  and 
infrastructure  in  ECEC.  It  will  also  use  the  7th  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and 
Development,  to  support  research,  analysis  and  the  development  of  evidence  on  the  most 
effective approaches to ECEC in the EU and elsewhere. 

2 

ACCESS TO ECEC 

2.1 

Universal and inclusive ECEC  

Access to universally available, high-quality inclusive ECEC services is beneficial for all. It 
not only helps children to unlock their potential but can also contribute to engaging parents 
and other family members with related measures to improve employment, job-related training, 
parent education, and leisure-time activities.  

Early childhood is the stage where education can most effectively influence the development 
of  children  and  help  reverse  disadvantage.  Research  shows  that  poverty  and  family 
dysfunction have the strongest correlation with poor educational outcomes. There are already 
big  differences  in  cognitive,  social  and  emotional  development  between  children  from  rich 

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Council Conclusions on efficiency and equity in education and training (OJ C 298 of 8.12.2006) 
Council  Conclusions  on  preparing  young  people  for  the  21st  century:  an  agenda  for  European 
cooperation on schools (OJ C 319 of 13.12.2008) 
Council conclusions on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 
2020’) (OJ C 119 of 28.5.2009) 

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and  poor  backgrounds  at  the  age  of  3,  and,  if  not  specifically  addressed,  this  gap  tends  to 
widen by the age of 5. Research from the USA shows that the beneficial impact of ECEC on 
children  from  poor  families  is  twice  as  high  as  for  those  with  a  more  advantaged 
background.11  ECEC  is  therefore  particularly  beneficial  for  socially  disadvantaged  children 
and their families, including migrants and minorities.12 But the benefits of ECEC extend far 
up the income ladder beyond poverty, and for all social groups it can help address a number 
of educational problems in a more lasting and cost-efficient way than later interventions.13 

ECEC is an important way to reduce the incidence of early school leaving, which is strongly 
correlated  with  socio-economic  disadvantage.  Universally  available  high-quality  ECEC  can 
close the gap in social development and numeracy and literacy achievement between children 
from  socially  advantaged  and  disadvantaged  backgrounds,  and  so  break  the  cycle  of  low 
achievement and disengagement that often leads to school drop-out and so to the transmission 
of poverty from one generation to the next.14  

For the children of migrant families, the data show that, overall, compared with pupils from 
native  backgrounds,  there  is  large  gap  in  achievement  levels,  that  the  performance  of  the 
second generation is lower than the first in many Member States, and that rates of early school 
leaving  are  on  average  twice  as  high.15  Migrant  families  are  often  unfamiliar  both  with  the 
language and with the educational system of the host country, so supporting their children’s 
learning can pose a particular challenge. There is strong evidence that participation in ECEC 
programmes  can  be  highly  beneficial  for  migrant  children's  cognitive  and  linguistic 
development. Model programmes in the USA have shown significant positive effects in terms 
of later educational success and income, but also in terms of criminal behaviour.16 Providing 
early language assistance to children with a different home language is an important part of 
improving  their  school-readiness  and  allowing  them  to  start  on  an  equal  footing  with  their 
peers. 

The situation of the Roma minority, for example, is often more difficult, and most Member 
States  face  a  systemic  challenge  to  provide  suitable  educational  opportunities  for  Roma 
children. Although their needs for support are greater, participation rates of Roma children in 
ECEC  are  generally  significantly  lower  than  for  the  native  population,  and  expanding  these 
opportunities  is  a  key  policy  challenge  across  the  EU.  ECEC  can  play  a  key  role  in 
overcoming  the  educational  disadvantage  faced  by  Roma  children,  as  highlighted  by  pilot 
actions  on  Roma  inclusion  currently  underway  in  some  Member  States  with  contributions 
from the EU budget.17  

In respect of children with special needs, Member States have committed themselves, through 
adherence  to  the  UN  Convention  on  the  rights  of  persons  with  disabilities,  to  inclusive 
education approaches.18 Nevertheless, some 2% of the European school population remains in 
segregated  settings.  ECEC  offers  potential  for  greater  inclusion  of  children  with  special 
education needs, paving the way for their later integration in mainstream schools.  

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13 

14 
15 
16 
17 
18 

S.W. Barnett,' Maximising returns from prekindergarten education', (2004) p. 10. 
J.  Bennett,  ‘Benchmarks  for  early  childhood  services  in  OECD  countries’,  Innocenti  Working  Paper 
(2008), p. 23; Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ‘Poorer children’s educational attainment’ (2010). 
S.W.  Barnett,  'Benefits  and  costs  of  quality  per-school  education:  evidence  based-policy  to  improve 
returns'. Paper presented at the 7th OECD ECEC Network meeting, (2010), p.11. 
Commission Staff Working Document, ‘Reducing early school leaving’ (SEC(2011)96), p.15.  
Council Conclusions on the education of children with a migrant background (OJ C 301 of 31.12.2009) 
D. Nusche, ‘What works in migrant education?’, OECD Education Working Paper No.22 (2009) p.27 
Further details: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/themes/roma/about_en.cfm?nmenu=2 
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) has been signed by all Member 
States, and ratified by most.  

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Realizing the potential of ECEC to address the inclusion challenges outlined above depends 
on the design and funding of the ECEC system. There is clear evidence that universal access 
to  quality  ECEC  is  more  beneficial  than  interventions  targeted  exclusively  at  vulnerable 
groups. Targeting ECEC poses problems because it is difficult in practice to identify the target 
group reliably, it tends to stigmatise its beneficiaries and can even lead to segregation at later 
stages  of  education.  Targeted  services  are  also  more  at  risk  of  cancellation  than  universal 
ones.  

It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  ECEC  services,  however  good,  can  only  compensate 
partially  for  family  poverty  and  socio-economic  disadvantage.  To  increase  the  long-term 
benefits of high-quality ECEC for the children from a disadvantaged background, ECEC must 
be  linked  to  initiatives  in  other  policy  areas  in  a  comprehensive  strategy  (employment, 
housing, health, etc.).  

2.2 

Efficient and equitable funding 

As  the  following  chart  shows,  returns  on  investment  in  early  childhood  education  are  the 
highest,  and  particularly  for  those  from  a  disadvantaged  background,  while  educational 
investment  at  later  stages  tends  disproportionately  to  benefit  children  from  higher  socio-
economic backgrounds.  

Source: COM (2006) 481, p.4.  

Unit  costs  per  child  in  ECEC  can  be  at  least  as  expensive  as  in  school,  particularly  if  the 
services  are  of  high-quality,  but  research  shows  that  high-quality  ECEC  can  improve  the 
cost/benefit  ratio.  In  other  words,  higher  investment  in  early  childhood  can  save  money 
later.19 However, in most Member States, public spending on education per child in the early 
childhood phase is lower than in any other phase.20  

There is a great variety of financing models for ECEC in Member States, based on public and 
private sources. All European countries finance or co-finance ECEC provision for over 3 year 

19 

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M.E. Lamb, ‘Nonparental child care: context, quality, correlates and consequences’, in W. Damon et al, 
Handbook of Child Psychology (1998)  
OECD, Doing better for children (2009), p.15. 

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olds from public sources; less than half of EU Member States cover most of the costs without 
requiring  family  contributions.  For  the  under-threes,  provision  tends  to  be  privately  funded. 
Some  Member  States  offer  additional  financial  assistance,  additional  staffing,  and  financial 
incentives for staff retention for the provision of services to at-risk groups.  

Given  Member  States'  increased  policy  attention  on  ECEC,  and  the  consequences  of 
restrictions  on  public  spending,  there  is  a  strong  need  to  ensure  that  funding  is  used  in  the 
most efficient way. 

Market-based services have the potential to limit public expenditure and allow greater choice 
and control for parents; however this should not be allowed to restrict the availability of high 
quality services for all. Low-income families tend to have the greatest need for childcare early 
and at the lowest possible cost, but often cannot afford market-based ECEC services for their 
children.  

3. 

QUALITY OF ECEC  

3.1 

Curriculum 

ECEC  services  should  be  designed  and  delivered  to  meet  all  children's  full  range  of  needs, 
cognitive, emotional, social and physical. These needs are very different from those of older, 
school-age children. Research indicates that the first years are the most formative in children's 
lives. The foundations of their main habits and patterns for their entire lives are established at 
this stage.  

Acquiring  non-cognitive  skills  (such  as  perseverance,  motivation,  ability  to  interact  with 
others) in early years is essential for all future learning and successful social engagement, so 
the content of the ECEC curriculum should extend beyond cognitive learning, and encompass 
socialisation and a range of non-cognitive aspects. Integration between care and education is 
therefore  necessary,  irrespective  of  whether  the  ECEC  system  is  split  between  (a)  childcare 
from birth to age 3 and (b) pre-school education from 3 to the start of school, or is based on a 
unitary model covering the entire age range from birth to the start of compulsory schooling.21  

Given the wide range of approaches that currently exist across the EU, it is important to focus 
on  the  issue  of  curricular  quality  and  appropriateness,  and  to  analyse  and  learn  from  good 
experiences in Member States, in order to secure the greatest positive impact of ECEC.  

3.2 

Staff  

Staff competences are key to high quality ECEC. Attracting, educating, and retaining suitably 
qualified  staff  is  a  great  challenge.  Trends  in  the  integration  of  childcare  and  education  are 
increasing the professionalisation of staff working in ECEC services, including higher and a 
broader range of required levels of education, higher salaries, better working conditions, but 
the overall staff profile remains very diverse. There is still a tendency to allocate ‘educational’ 
work  to  qualified  staff,  and  ‘care’  to  less  qualified  staff,  which  often  leads  to  a  lack  of 
continuity in the individual child's care and education. 

Moreover, the range of issues tackled by ECEC staff and the diversity of the children in their 
charge requires continuous reflection on pedagogical practice as well as a systemic approach 
to  professionalisation.  In  many  countries,  training  for  working  with  children  at  risk  is  an 
integral  part  of  initial  training,  but  many  other  aspects  of  diversity  are  not  sufficiently 
covered.  In  addition,  ECEC  staff  rarely  have  the  same  possibilities  for  induction,  in-service 
training and continuous professional development as are available to school teachers. 

21 

Eurydice  Report,  Early  Childhood  Education  and  Care  in  Europe:  Tackling  Social  and  Cultural 
Inequalities (2009), p. 29. 

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So while there has been progress in many Member States towards more professionalised and 
specialised staffing of ECEC, this starts from a low base in many countries and improving this 
situation will be an important part of any expansion of ECEC services.  

There is a very important issue of gender balance among ECEC staff. Almost all of them are 
women. This has been a matter of concern for a long time. A few countries have set targets 
for  the  recruitment  of  men  into  ECEC  or  sought  to  redesign  the  profession  to  reduce 
gendering.22 There is a pressing need to make a career in the ECEC sector more attractive to 
men in all EU countries. 

3.3  Governance of ECEC  

The benefits of quality ECEC accrue in the long-term, which means that the rest of the system 
needs to build on them so that the good start is not lost. 

A systemic approach to the ECEC services means strong collaboration between the different 
policy sectors, such as education, employment, health, social policy. Such approaches allow 
governments  to  organise  and  manage  policies  more  simply  and  efficiently,  and  to  combine 
resources for children and their families. This requires a coherent vision that is shared by all 
stakeholders, including parents, a common policy framework with consistent goals across the 
system, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities at central and local levels. This approach 
also helps ECEC services to respond better to local needs. Policy exchange and cooperation at 
EU  level  can  help  countries  learn  from  each  others’  good  practice  in  this  important  and 
challenging task.  

The  smooth  passage  from  one  institution  to  another  (eg  pre-primary  to  primary  school) 
requires  efficient  communication  between  the  institutions  as  well  as  continuity  in  terms  of 
content and standards. In addition, the growing social diversity in the EU and the challenge of 
accommodating  increasingly  different  socio-cultural  contexts  make  transitions  from  the 
family  to  ECEC,  and  between  different  age  groups  within  the  same  institution,  increasingly 
important.  

Quality assurance mechanisms for ECEC normally need to be based on an agreed pedagogical 
framework,  covering  the  whole  period  between  birth  and  compulsory  school  age.  Such 
frameworks  are  broader  than  a  traditional  curriculum.  They  can  define  the  competence 
requirements  of  staff,  pedagogical  orientations  and  standards,  and  the  regulatory  framework 
for early childhood services. They can also set out the outcomes aimed for, which can help the 
monitoring of the child's development in collaboration with parents and ECEC staff and ease 
his/her progress into further stages of education. The frameworks can set consistent standards 
throughout  the  system  against  which  outcomes  can  be  measured  and  quality  assurance 
arrangements implemented.  

4. CONCLUSION 

This  Communication  has  highlighted  the  need  to  improve  ECEC  across  the  EU  by 
complementing  the  existing  quantitative  targets  with  measures  to  improve  access  and  to 
ensure  the  quality  of  provision.  In  response  to  requests  in  the  Council  Conclusions  of  2008 
and  2009  for  more  policy  cooperation  on  ECEC  issues  and  to  the  challenge  of  the  new 
European benchmark on ECEC participation, it proposes an agenda for work among Member 
States on key issues related to access and to quality, supported by actions by the Commission. 
This agenda is summarised in the boxes below. This work would be organised under the Open 

22 

OECD, Starting strong II (2006), pp. 170-1. 

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Method of Coordination and focus on the identification and analysis of common challenges, 
good practice models, and how to transfer successful approaches to other systems.  

ECEC has an important role to play in reducing early school leaving, and so key challenges as 
well  as  possible  solutions  in  this  field  should  be  highlighted  in  Member  States'  National 
Reform  Programmes  to  address  the  Europe  2020  priorities.  The  need  to  learn  from  good 
practice  and  experience  across  the  EU,  and  so  improve  the  quality  of  policy  in  ECEC,  is 
pressing.  

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Proposed issues for policy cooperation among Member States 

Access to ECEC 

•  Using ECEC effectively to support inclusion and to reduce early school leaving 

•  Widening  access  to  quality  ECEC  for  disadvantaged  children,  migrants,  Roma  children 
(such as incentives for participation for disadvantaged families, adapting provision to the 
needs of families and increasing accessibility and affordability) 

•  Collecting evidence on the advantages and impact of universal versus targeted provision 

•  Designing efficient funding models and the right balance of public and private investment 

Quality of ECEC  

•  Finding  the  appropriate  balance  in  the  curriculum  between  cognitive  and  non-cognitive 

elements  

•  Promoting the professionalisation of ECEC staff: what qualifications are needed for which 

functions 

•  Developing policies to attract, educate and retain suitably qualified staff to ECEC 

•  Improving the gender balance of ECEC staff 

•  Moving towards ECEC systems which integrate care and education, and improve quality, 

equity and system efficiency  

•  Facilitating  the  transition  of  young  children  between  family  and  education/care,  and 

between levels of education 

•  Ensuring quality assurance: designing coherent, well-coordinated pedagogical frameworks, 

involving key stakeholders 

. 

In support, the Commission will: 

•  Promote the identification and exchange of good policies and practices through the Open 

Method of Coordination on Education and Training with Member States (ET2020) 

•  Support  the  development  of  innovative  approaches  by  developing  transnational  projects 

and networks under the Lifelong Learning Programme 

•  Provide  support  for  research  into  these  areas  under  the  7th  Framework  Programme  on 

Research and Development 

•  Encourage  Member  States  to  invest  in  these  areas  through  the  Structural  Funds,  in 
particular  through  support  for  the  training  of  staff  and  for  the  development  of  accessible 
infrastructure 

•   

EN 

9 

   EN