Council Recommendation on early childhood education and care: the Barcelona targets for 2030

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details C 484, Pages 1-12
Publication Date 20/12/2022
Content Type

Summary:

Recommendation adopted by the Council of the European Union on 8 December 2022, focusing on the revision of the Barcelona Targets on early childhood education and care.

Further information:

The European Council set in March 2002 a set of targets on childcare - known as the Barcelona Targets - aimed at increasing female labour-market participation by enhancing the provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC).

The objective of this Recommendation is to encourage the Member States of the European Union (EU) to increase participation in ECEC. It revises the Barcelona Targets in an attempt to create new momentum for fostering further upwards convergence among countries. It also addresses additional dimensions, such as affordability, accessibility and quality of ECEC. It invites Member States to take into account the time-intensity of children’s participation in ECEC and the share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion participating in ECEC.

The revision was first announced in the 2020-2025 Gender Equality StrategyEU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, as well as in the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan. It was adopted by European Commission on 7 September 2022 alongside a European Care Strategy. The Council of the European Union adopted the Recommendation on 8 December 2022. The text was published in the Official Journal on 20 December 2022.

Source Link Link to Main Source https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.C_.2022.484.01.0001.01.ENG
Related Links
Official
EUR-LEX: COM(2022)442: Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the Revision of the Barcelona Targets on early childhood education and care https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2022:442:FIN
Council of the European Union: Press Release, 08/12/2022: EU ministers adopt recommendations on early childhood and long term care https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/08/eu-ministers-adopt-recommendations-on-early-childhood-and-long-term-care/

Commentary and Analysis
International Step by Step Association (ISSA): News, 12/09/2022: ISSA contributes to European Commission’s proposal on revision of the Barcelona Targets https://www.issa.nl/content/issa-contributes-european-commission%E2%80%99s-proposal-revision-barcelona-targets

Subject Categories ,
Subject Tags ,
International Organisations