Press Release: 3358th Council meeting Education, Youth, Culture and Sport – Brussels, 12 December 2014

Main results of the Council:

Education
Entrepreneurship in education and training: The Council adopted conclusions on entrepreneurship in education and training, which highlight the importance of developing entrepreneurial skills from an early age and of reinforcing links between the education system and the business world, in line with the June European Council's call "to promote a climate of entrepreneurship and job creation". Entrepreneurship and education are also priorities of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The economic case for education and training: In the context of the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy, Education ministers and Employment ministers from Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg held a public debate on "The economic case for education and training".
The President of the Council, Minister Stefania Giannini said: "The Italian Presidency intended to reaffirm the crucial role of education in boosting economic growth and in creating jobs. To meet this goal, today’s Council conclusions on entrepreneurship in education, the debate on the added value of investing in quality education and training with a long-term perspective, and the discussion on how to enhance international mobility through structured curricular mobility experiences, set important milestones."

Budget: The Council also confirmed, without debate, the political agreement reached on the 2015 EU budget and the pending draft amending budgets for 2014

Youth
Young people's access to rights: The Council adopted conclusions on young people's access to rights in order to foster their autonomy and participation in civil society. They address the challenges for this generation of young people, who must suffer the fall-out of the financial crisis, and in particular their difficulties in becoming autonomous adults who participate in a critical and active way in the social, political and economic life of their own communities. Luigi Bobba, Italian Secretary of State for Labour and Social Policy noted that: "The conclusions invite member states to put in place a wide range of instruments and measures in order to remove obstacles which prevent young people from living an autonomous life."

Socio-economic challenges in the to youth field: Ministers also discussed, in a public session, a cross-sectoral approach to youth policies as a tool for better tackling socio-economic challenges in this field. Cross-sectoral policy cooperation is also one of the key priorities of the newly adopted EU Work Plan for Youth. State Secretary Luigi Bobba said: "the debate confirmed that the cross-sectoral approach is the path to follow, at European as well as at national level, to ensure more concrete and efficient youth policies".