Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-19-Speech-4-658-000"
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"en.20120419.26.4-658-000"2
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"Mr President, in the name of the Commission I welcome the report by Mr Tőkés. We welcome Parliament’s voice on this issue (for the second time recently), so this is clearly very high on your agenda. It is a timely voice, as we are confronted with the following situation.
On the one hand, nobody is denying that the knowledge-based economy is the future of Europe. On the other hand, education at a stressful time of austerity is one of the areas which is heavily cut in national budgets. In response to the comments of Mr Papanikolaou, I have to say that we are repeatedly underlining that, even in a time of austerity, training and education should be defended in the national budgets. Otherwise we are running the risk of undermining the future prospects of Europe.
We are also fully aware of the paradox of today’s Europe, which is that we are relatively well equipped with highly-qualified labour in our continent. On the other hand, we are confronted with a problem of structural unemployment, especially when it comes to what is already called a lost generation.
The interplay between education and the labour market is thus a complex one, and we need reforms – and not only so we can move towards so-called global competitiveness. This must be done, as in the future the demand here will be for higher rather than lower qualifications. On the other hand we have to involve business communities and other partners in order to ensure that the graduates leaving our schools are equipped with useful employment skills (including vocational skills) and that this is not just producing unemployed people in Europe.
I acknowledge that Mr Tőkés’s report endorses the agenda proposed by the Commission in September 2011 involving the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and our multidimensional approach to the ranking of universities, youth opportunities and projects such as knowledge alliances.
We appreciate what is needed in the partnership in order to ensure decent budgeting for a future generation of the programmes: the Institute; the Marie Curie programme (to be renamed Marie Skłodowska-Curie) and Erasmus For All. Let me clarify one point that is proposed by the Commission. The Erasmus Master Student Loan guarantee, a part of Erasmus For All, is an additional tool supporting students which is complementary to the grants, which will remain the major engine of our programmes.
What comes in the future is not only about reinforcing good education but also concerns supporting education partnerships. One more, Mr Tőkés, thank you for the really constructive tone of your report."@en1
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