German EU-Presidency

Education and research are preconditions for a sustainable Europe, lasting growth, more occupation and cultural and social cooperation. The German EU presidency promoted the development of the European education and research area with new initiatives.

Education unites

"Education unites" was the guiding motive during the German European Union council presidency in education. Education is the key to individual life chances - the chance to individual economic, social and cultural participation. The sum of the individual life chances of the citizens in Europe determines the competitiveness of the European economy, the social cohesion within society and the coalescence of the member states on a common understanding of democracy, right nationalness and values.

The new Lifelong Learning Programme endowed with about 7 billion Euro 2007-2013 promotes the mobility of teachers and pupils of all levels and grades and the cooperation of educational facilities. The Bologna process for universities and the Copenhagen process for vocational training are advanced. In the context of strategy development for lifelong learning a special focus is put on adult education and the support of children at pre-school age. A further topic was the development of research strategies for evidence-based education politics.

Success through research

With "success through research", Germany wanted to promote the meaning of research for Europe: Research improves competitiveness, secures prospority and enables social participation. With the start of the 7th Research Framwork Programme with a financial volume of approximately 54 billion € and the European Research Council (ERC) defined in it, a new chapter of the European research began. With the ERC, the European union for the first time supports basic research directly, a task so far reserved to the member states. With a financial volume of a billion euro annually, this will have a a strong effect on the German basic research and will make an important contribution for the stabilization of the European research area. 

The Lisbon strategy of the European Union and its central goal of investing three per cent of the gross domestic product for research requires intensified efforts to finance science and research. By supporting this goal on all levels, we want to contribute to the fact that education and research give vital impulses for the development of a common European society.

The main events of the German EU Presidency 2007 and its results are compiled on the following pages.

• topic Ministry

  Event Documentation

  In the list below you will find all events during the Germany EU Presidency 2007, where documented results are available.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7879.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  26.04.2007 - 28.04.2007

  Informal Competitiveness Council

  The Informal Competitiveness Council took place on April 26 to 28 in Würzburg. On this occasion the EU-Member States' Deputies in the fields of Research and Economy debated on Europe's future at the global market.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7314.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  EU Research Framework Programme

  The EU Research Framework Programme (RFP) is the largest funding programme for research projects in the world. The BMBF supports national efforts to ensure excellent research at European level. Various advisory services are offered to German applicants, eg by the Federal Government's National Contact Points for the Research Framework Programme (NCPs).
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/rp7-auftakt.php)
   
  
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  topic Education

  01.03.2007 - 02.03.2007

  Informal Meeting of Education Ministers

  The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has invited the Education Ministers of 27 EU Member States to Heidelberg to discuss questions of adult education and pre-primary education. The objective of the two-day conference is to continue the Europe-wide discussion on a common way of implementing lifelong learning.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7311.php)