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The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 Strategy

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The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 Strategy NC-32-11-824-EN-C Péter Balázs Tanya Mihaylova Enrique Barón Crespo Nana Mouskouri Tim Birtwistle John O’Rourke Erhard Busek Roman Petrov Simion Costea Madlen Serban Nina Didenko Jacek Saryusz-Wolski Gaga Gabrichidze Dusan Sidjanski José-Maria Gil-Robles Jan Truszczyński Mall Hellam Peter Van Elsuwege Theodora Hiou-Maniatopoulou Androulla Vassiliou László Kecskés Amy Verdun Pierre Mairesse Kristian Vigenin Marc Maresceau Ivan Voles Jiri Zemanek The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: Visions of leading policymakers and academics of leading policymakers and the Europe 2020 strategy: Visions The Eastern Partnership European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture The Eastern Partnership and 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel BELGIUM/BELGIË the Europe 2020 strategy: Tel. +32 22991111 Fax +32 22955719 Visions of leading [email protected] policymakers and academics Education doi:10.2766/17192 and Culture European Commission The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: Visions of leading policymakers and academics Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2012 — 184 pp. — 14.8 × 21 cm Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. 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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2012 ISBN 978-92-79-20896-6 doi:10.2766/17192 © European Union, 2012 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Luxembourg P - (ECF) European Commission The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: Visions of leading policymakers and academics Péter Balázs Tanya Mihaylova Enrique Barón Crespo Nana Mouskouri Tim Birtwistle John O’Rourke Erhard Busek Roman Petrov Simion Costea Madlen Serban Nina Didenko Jacek Saryusz-Wolski Gaga Gabrichidze Dusan Sidjanski José-Maria Gil-Robles Jan Truszczyński Mall Hellam Peter Van Elsuwege Theodora Hiou-Maniatopoulou Androulla Vassiliou László Kecskés Amy Verdun Pierre Mairesse Kristian Vigenin Marc Maresceau Ivan Voles Jiri Zemanek European Commission Commission Européenne Directorate-General for Direction générale de Education and Culture l’éducation et de la culture Jean Monnet programme Programme Jean Monnet 2012 Directorate-General for Education and Culture 2 THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP AND THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY Contents I. Opening session Jan Truszczyński Introductory remarks 6 Erhard Busek The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: achievements and future 9 Kristian Vigenin The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy 13 II. The Eastern Partnership: fundamental objectives and political visions Theodora Hiou-Maniatopoulou Introductory remarks 20 Jacek Saryusz-Wolski The Eastern Partnership: fundamental objectives and political visions 23 John O’Rourke, The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: achievements and future 30 Madlen Serban The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy: the role of skills 35 Peter Van Elsuwege Providing new impetus to the Eastern Partnership: challenges ahead 44 Simion Costea The European Union’s Eastern Partnership: the objective of regional cooperation 51 III. Legal approximation in the Eastern Partnership: multilateral and bilateral dimensions Roman Petrov Introductory remarks 62 László Kecskés Early Hungarian experience on approximation of laws 68 Jiri Zemanek The Czech pre-European Union accession experience from legal approximation and its relevance for the Eastern Partnership 80 Gaga Gabrichidze Engagements zur nicht vertraglich gestützten Rechtsangleichung — sind sie was wert? 92 VISIONS OF LEADING POLICYMAKERS AND ACADEMICS 3 IV. Civil society involvement in the Eastern Partnership Enrique Barón Crespo Introductory remarks 98 Amy Verdun Civil society involvement in the Eastern Partnership 103 Dusan Sidjanski Education européenne: L’histoire et «la main à la pâte» 110 V. Europe 2020 and the Eastern Partnership: focus on education, training, youth and employment Pierre Mairesse Introductory remarks 120 Nina Didenko Europe 2020 and the Eastern Partnership: focus on education, training, youth and employment 125 Tim Birtwistle Europe 2020 and the Eastern Partnership: focus on education, training, youth and employment 133 VI. Commissioner’s Intervention Androulla Vassiliou 146 VII. Closing session — Conclusions José-Maria Gil-Robles Concluding remarks 154 Marc Maresceau Concluding remarks 157 Dusan Sidjanski L’initiative orientale et le futur rôle de la Russie 165 Péter Balázs The Eastern Partnership 172 Annex Programme of the Jean Monnet seminar: The Eastern Partnership and the Europe 2020 strategy 180 I. Opening session Jan Truszczyński Erhard Busek Kristian Vigenin 6 THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP AND THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY Introductory remarks Ladies and Gentlemen, I will soon be presenting and giving the floor to our distinguished speakers. However, allow me first to make some introductory remarks on the Europe 2020 strategy and on how we think it applies to the Eastern Partnership. Now, the rationale of this strategy is clear. If we want to maintain a social model as Jan Truszczyński well as our position on the global scene, Director-General for Education and Culture we have to grow and change. We have to of the European Commission become smarter, ‘inclusiver’ and ‘sustain- abler’, as they say in Brussels these days. Our economic recovery must be based on knowledge and innovation — there is no other way forward. This means that inclusive educa- tion and lifelong learning must be given an additional boost. In add- ition, we must upgrade research, develop innovation and continue removing barriers to entrepreneurship. Of course, Europe is more than the European Union of the 27 Member States. Europe 2020 is meant to create new opportunities for both the European Union and its neighbours. Thanks to the European neigh- bourhood policy and the Eastern Partnership in particular, we have an instrument allowing us to work together beyond the European Union. The aim of a partnership is to support political and social-economic reforms in partner countries and to facilitate the approximation of their regulations with the European Union legislation. VISIONS OF LEADING POLICYMAKERS AND ACADEMICS 7 Over the past decade, Jean Monnet professors, including professors who have come today to Brussels, have demonstrated the crucial role they play in this process of approximation. They do not only teach and explain how the Union works; they also provide good, specific advice on the European Union legislation. In our efforts to build bridges between the Union and its immediate eastern partners, contacts between people are, of course, essential. We have a tool for that — the so-called Platform 4 which is not the least important platform among the tools we have created to implement the Eastern Partnership. This platform is specifically devoted to such contacts. Our European flagship programmes for educational exchanges between the European Union and third countries are of particular relevance in this regard. I am thinking not only about Tempus but also particularly of Erasmus Mundus. However, a number of other education and culture programmes are opening up to eastern partners. For instance, the e-twinning action for Internet cooperation between European schools will soon include schools from the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia. E-twinning is, I must tell you, a hugely successful instrument, which has developed at almost breakneck speed between schools through- out the European Union. We hope that it will also be a success between our schools and those in Eastern Partnership countries. I am also pleased to announce the launch of an ‘Eastern Partnership Youth’ programme in 2011. This comes in addition to the already active participation of the eastern partners in the ‘Youth in action’ programme. We also have the association agreements. They will trigger the new approach to policy dialogue and cooperation in education and training. The agreements, which are currently under negotiation, 8 THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP AND THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY will enable us to engage in a more comprehensive dialogue that is lifelong learning oriented. It is also no coincidence that we are discussing the link between the Europe 2020 strategy and the Eastern Partnership at a sem- inar such as the one today. The Commission’s former President, Romano Prodi, presented the European Union neighbourhood policy at a Jean Monnet Conference as did the Commission’s current President, Mr Barroso, in the past. It is therefore fitting that we devote these next two days to Europe strategy for the coming 10 years
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