Education and Training in the European Union

The aim of this work is to examine a specific component of the European social dimension, namely the Community's initiatives and actions on education and vocational training. EC education and training programmes were introduced to serve certain objectives, that is, to enable young people to experience the "reality of Europe" through various forms of co-operation, including training periods in firms in other member states, University courses in other Community countries and exchanges. All of these transnational mobility schemes are thought to represent a vital element of the Community's investment in human resources, by fostering improvement of the understanding of other European societies and cultures, encouraging co-operation between education and research institutes and the world of work, thereby helping to improve the quality of education, training and research and also paving the way for the creation of an employment and work area on a Community-wide scale. The book examines the Community's aims, claiming that its actions on education have a dual objective: to contribute to the completion of the internal market, and the formation of a Community-wide cultural identity. The underlying argument is that an appreciation of the deficiencies and contradictions of the education and training aims and policies of the Community requires a better understanding of the relationship between state and education, both in member states and in the process of European integration. The role of the political authorities in relation to education and training cannot be confined to the requirements of the economy and the reproduction of human capital, for it also includes the political imperatives of socialization and legitimization.