Committee on Culture and Education Ordinary meeting
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CULT European Parliament
Follow its sittingsAlicia Homs Ginel
And I think proof of the compromise, the intensity of work that we've been doing over the past few months. We've already had two trialogues. A third trialogue will be held on May 5. And there have also been about 10 technical trialogues, and all sorts of contacts between the different teams. When it comes to the content of the discussions, what I can share with you, and I'd like to report back about the second trilogue, which was held on February 24, which focused on three main blocks of work: firstly, the scope of application and the purpose of the directive.
The European Parliament has insisted on two ideas which we feel are absolutely fundamental. First of all, we have to guarantee that there is a proper training component, and this be the defining element of traineeships. And we want to make sure that the whole concept of traineeships is not diluted, as it were, and is extended to people of any age or is then assimilated to the process of lifelong learning or upskilling or reskilling. A second block of negotiations was on the traineeship agreements, and we are defending this and its central role. We feel it's a key tool to guarantee the legal certainty of the relationship between the parties.
Once again, we want to guarantee that the training component is not just mentioned in the paper, but it's actually carried out in practice. And we also want to facilitate the work of the labor inspectors if, in the case of irregularities, being detected. We're also working at the technical level on a proposal that has been submitted by the Commission in order to guarantee that. And then the third block that we negotiated at the trialogue deals with equal treatment and the principle of non-discrimination. And here, we've defended three key elements.
Firstly, that if there is to be any comparison between an employee, comparable employee, that's done with people who carry out the same or similar work in the same working environment, then obviously, we have to limit to the maximum the motives and reasons that would justify differentiated treatment so that we don't undermine the principle of equal treatment. And then the reference to the role of the social partners that should be drafted with sufficient precision that nobody would see that their rights, the rights recognized by the directive, are undermined or don't have any effect. In this context, I can say that the commission has submitted a working document, which is serving as a basis for us to continue discussions at the technical level. Since the first trialogue, we have always said extremely clearly, and we say this every single time, because obviously this is something that is very much important for us. We have to negotiate.
And this obviously has been our approach right from the outset, and continues to be so right throughout the whole process. From the European Parliament, we want to work towards a very clear objective, and we want to make sure that the results are up to our expectations, in particular, those of the young Europeans. So thank you very much, and thank you to the COLT committee for the contribution that you have made to our work, which has been very valuable for us. Thank.
Good time.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Thank you very much. Very good timing and very high quality messages. We aren't going to have a discussion on this, but I would like to thank you, dear colleague, Alicia Homs Grinell. I'd like to wish you a very nice afternoon, and we cross our fingers for the next trilogue on May 5.
Thank you.
Yes. Thank you.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Thank you.
We move swiftly on to the next point on the agenda, and I'd like to remind you this is point eight. This is a public hearing, and the title of the hearing is Education as a Driver for Empowering Youth, Fostering Inclusiveness, and Engagement in Europe. And I'd like to welcome our guests. You know some of them. Are you all ready?
I think all of us do realize that we're aware of the huge potential of education. We're all aware of the opportunities that it creates for Europe, the importance of education. And it's our responsibility, obviously, to make societies more inclusive and to make sure that young people are encouraged to become actively engaged in society. To this end, it's crucial to foster youth empowerment. And at the same time, we are also increasingly concerned by new threats to democracy.
We live in a world full of crises, so we have to strengthen cooperation and peaceful, inclusive living together in society. Today's hearing is going to be held as one structured panel. We have three external experts with us today, and each expert will cover the topic of inclusion, empowerment, and engagement from their specific viewpoint. The first expert will be Damian Kupczyk, who is President of the Chechenysky Family Foundation and who also has experience as a child therapist, educationalist, and tutor. The second speaker, second expert, is Markus Proch, the Associate Professor at Heidelberg University.
And his presentation will focus on the history of education as a driver of civic engagement in Europe. The third speaker is Radastina Stojinova Khaprosova, who will be joining us online. She is the Country Director of the Arita Youth Foundation Bulgaria, and she will be giving us the youth perspective. And then we will hear from Diana Yablonska, Director for Youth Education and Erasmus Plus from DG EAC of the European Commission. So if you're all ready, let's start.
And in the same order that I have outlined to you, so I'll hand the floor to Mr. Kukchi. You have the floor for 10 minutes. Yes. Thank you very much, Chairman.
I'm speaking on behalf of the Chechenysky Family Foundation. So perhaps I can, we're going to be talking about education for empowering youth and engagement in Europe as a way of preventing, well, encouraging mental health. Our foundation was set up by a group of entrepreneurs who had children living with disabilities, people, for example, one who was deaf in one ear even after a number of operations. And we also turned to teachers and other parents who wanted to work towards inclusive education. What is important for us when it comes to looking at education is that this is a system, obviously, that has been working for many years.
Damian Kupczyk
And we're looking at philosophy and pedagogy. And all of this obviously has thousands of years of history, together with pedagogy. And education is important, and we have to, we're also looking at bringing up children, how we do this. The world reality is changing, and this means, obviously, that we have to change the educational structures. So whether we're talking about preschool, we have to look at what we're teaching, especially today's generation, because we're living in the world of new technology and AI.
Obviously, we're talking about issues related to mental health and preventing mental health issues, and also trying to build up an inclusive society. And this requires of all of us a certain type of approach and how we can build up further practical skills so that anybody who finishes their education, or the pupil or the student, is able to cope with the challenges thrown up by reality which he or she will be facing in the modern world. If we're looking at inclusiveness and education, there's something we cannot forget, and that is the fact that the child is under the influence of a so-called educational triangle, triangle of influences. And the first of the, well, the first of the points of this triangle is the parents. And through very many meetings that we've had and debates, whether academic or practical in nature, we talk about the education system, and we tend to forget that parents form a large part of this.
And psychologists dealing with child development, I very often say that when it comes to the behavior of a child and the way that we react to children either at the primary school level or teenagers, it depends on how we were educated and brought up, and also parents between the first and third years of life. I can't, I don't have time to talk about different disorders, but research has shown that, generally speaking, there is an increase in a number of disorders, for example, depression and then aggression as well. So, talking about education, we can't only focus on the teacher and school system. We have to remember the parents and then the first, yeah, the third corner of the triangle, society and socialization. Obviously, this has an impact on children, and we have to make sure that we can protect the children.
For example, when it comes to social media, we have to protect children from what they're seeing, and teach them how to cope with this. What is also worth stressing is that the earlier we start with education, the greater the effect. Very often, when I do give a presentation, I say that as of a certain moment, we don't talk about education. But obviously, sometimes we end up talking about resocialization if education hasn't worked, and that's very costly, not very effective. And it means that we have to focus more financing on this.
So then you have to use more expensive methods in order to put this right. So if we're talking about drawing on the development potential,
that
Damian Kupczyk
We have in children, we have to look at the psychosocial effects on children, other socialization. And then, of course, parents have an important role to play, but if there's a lack of a good education, that also has an effect. Here we can see some research that's been done, and it shows that early childhood education obviously pays. And there is a so-called development window, and this is the window of opportunity. And this from the age of five, where 90% of brain development does occur before the age of five.
So, obviously, we have to look at structures of action. If a child receives from its parents, its teachers and society certain habits, if the child internalizes these habits, then obviously, that is their own scheme, the pattern that they have in their brain as it were that they've learned from this very early age, which will help them in the face of future risks and challenges. So the earlier we start with preventive mental health and education, then the less risk there will be of resocialization, or of a treatment if there is a problem later on. And perhaps I could draw your attention to this and, I, creating an environment of society which is safe for children, not only safe and secure in terms of military but also when it comes to information and relationships are safe in that respect. If you take a look at the world we're living in, the children are living in today post the pandemic. Now I very often hear in different forms of media, television, parents that, you know, we've got one war, then another war starts.
There's a housing crisis. You know, as a child, a child will say or a teenager that they don't know whether they're going to be able to come independent, and this generates, that triggers stress. And there are symptoms shared by teenagers, adolescents moving towards adulthood. Are they feel, well, are we going to find a job? This creates stress, which triggers cortisone, which has an effect on the brain, and also has an effect on the way we feel about ourselves.
So this all has a lot to do with inclusiveness as well. As a foundation, we deal with these well, there are about 8,000 schools, preschools, schools that use our different development tools. And what we stress essentially is that it's important to have an early emotional childhood. Child have to be able to recognize emotions. They have to be able to accept emotions, and we have to talk about how good it is to be able to express emotions and then to be able to react to those emotions.
In our experience in Poland, we have seen that when it comes to the education system, if you take a look at this table, you would have to or you can analyze the detail. We've got over 500,000 child psychiatrists, about 18,000 therapists and 500 child psychologists, and they all work together many hours every week with children. And so it's a system that does have a lot of expertise looking at the mental health of children. Obviously, there are different places where these people work, other schools, elsewhere. When we look at education, we try and adopt a holistic approach and link all of this together with different aspects such as economics, empathy, emotion, cyber security, looking at patriotism, those kind of things as well.
And all of this is linked together. So then, of course, we have to look at the results and analyze them. And if you want to have some information about our own analyses, we can send the information to you. Maybe now moving on to recommendations to those who draft the policies. We have to look at the priorities.
Education linked to mental health is very important, absolutely essential. And to NGOs, the government, we do need to be able to work in this sector. We need funds to be able to work on this in order to develop tools, although we do already have tools that have been developed and can be implemented. And I would like to thank you for having listened to my presentation.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Now, next, Marcus Bruich, pan professor Brose Barca. Ten minutes.
Markus J. Prutsch
Honorable chairs, dear members, it's a great pleasure and honor for me to be here today, and I would like to focus my presentation on the question of how far history and especially history education can serve as a driver of civic engagement in Europe. The reason why I put the question mark at the end of the title is, first and foremost, because you might wonder, well, how can and should history serve that purpose? But when you think about it, history has always served as a way of engaging people, even if not always in the ways we would like to see or would like wish to see happening. I quoted here two examples. The first one, it's a bit slow, the remote control, is actually showing how in current contemporary Russia.
Also, histories made reference to engage essentially young people to take part in the war of aggression against Ukraine. So history by making reference to the glorious Patriotic War, the Second World War, by engaging young people today to engage in warfare. A second example that I'm quoting at the beginning is the Black Lives Matter movement, where, on the other hand, people that feel that their history has not yet been told or has been misconfigured are asking for giving prominence. So activating civic engagement on the particular case, here we see a picture projected on the monument of General Lee in Richmond, Virginia, during the Black Lives Matter movement. Now the question is, what has the European Union been doing?
And, actually, there are quite a lot of activities that the European Union has already fostered, that can be summarized on the one hand as awareness raising, activities, and political initiatives. This is, for example, the Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day of recognition of the victims of Stalinism and Nazism, the August 23, the day of the signing of the Molotov Ribbentrop or rather known Hitler Stalin pact in 1939, but also a series of resolutions that this very house has made. For example, the EP resolution on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe. So clearly showing that history is not something that we just need to remember, but that this is also important for our present and the future. Besides that, there are also concrete funding programs that are helping to support initiatives in this regard, especially the Europe for Citizens program, the old Europe for Citizens program that is now continued under the brand of SAREF, the Citizens' Equality Rights and Values program since 2021 that actively supports not just civic engagement, but explicitly also historical remembrance as one particular form of civic engagement.
But you could also quote the advocacy of this committee and the European Parliament for the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018 as an example of how history here in the form of cultural heritage is used as a driver for civic engagement across Europe. Last but not least, let me quote the example of the House of European History, which in itself is the attempt to portray European history, the difficulties of European history in one particular museum. Having said that, let me turn, let me mention, however, that this is not an easy task. And I also want to mention that there are many initiatives that have not operationalized or even openly failed. And one failure clearly was an own initiative report that didn't pass also here in this committee in 2013, where the ambitious project of historical memory and culture and education in the European Union was undertaken.
But because the views on this topic were so divergent, it was one of the few files that already failed at committee level at the time, because it was simply impossible to find cross party agreement and the majority for any of the versions that were put forward. And I think this failed initiative of 2013 refers also to the fact that EU policies dealing with history and history education are facing a series of dilemmas. Let's call them like that. And maybe the first and most important dilemma is that, so far, obviously, there is not one European history. History.
We are facing a multiplicity of histories, and we also have a series of competing memory frames, if you want to put it this way. Maybe the two most obvious are, on the one hand, the idea of the singularity of the Holocaust that is very strongly embedded in Western European cultures, which is, you know, in a way also contradicted by the idea that national socialism and especially totalitarian forms of communism are equally evil, which is very strongly present in Eastern Europe because of the history of Eastern Europe, especially after the Second World War, where dictatorship continued for many decades. A second problem and dilemma of new policies is that we are facing a somewhat teleological and reductionist understanding of history. Automatically, by portraying, you know, the evils of the past, you create this idea that the past was dark and the present is bright, which is also overly simplifying what history in the end is always about. Secondly, obviously, we are also thereby ignoring other central elements and problems of European and world history when we think about colonialism or imperialism.
By focusing only on the totalitarianisms of the twentieth century, we give the impression that European history is only a matter of the twentieth century, while many of the problems that we are facing today, including migration, have their roots maybe in the centuries before. Finally, another dilemma, and this is maybe a kind of a paradox even, is by dealing with troubled histories at the European level, you somehow take also away incentives to critically examine and come to terms with the past at the national level. In the sense of the EU is taking care of this, why should we bother to deal with problematic histories of our nations, so to say? However, there is also a very good and new example. The most recent initiative of this house was the EP resolution on European historical consciousness in 2013, which passed by a large majority in plenary and showed maybe a new approach to how we can deal with history at European level by no longer mentioning remembrance, but rather focusing on this idea of historical consciousness as a different, maybe a broader concept.
Even for, and this is also a truth, there were still clear divisions along the political spectrum when this resolution was adopted in early 2024. I want to quote, however, one of the recitals of that resolution, if we are getting there in a second, which I think nicely summarizes the spirit of that very resolution when it says, there is fostering a critical historical consciousness across borders by educational and other means is central for Europeans to be able to understand and come to terms with their past, confidently deal with the present, and work towards a common future. So, again, the idea of history not just being something that we should remember and know about, but really something that helps us understand and grasp the present, and create, hopefully, a better future. And I think at the very bottom of this recital is the idea that we have to move from a remembrance culture to a culture of remembering, and this is not just playing with words. I think it's the idea that we have to move from content to process in the sense that we shouldn't try to convince all Europeans and especially young people that's the right history to believe in, but rather to give them the tools to critically deal with their own history and exchange, even if they might not necessarily agree across borders on all aspects.
In other words, it's about moving from what to how, so not what to remember, but rather how to deal with history in a critical manner. This obviously needs to take place on the basis of shared values, humanism, rule of law, democracy. It needs to create open fora for discussion and also address uncomfortable segments of national histories in a dispassionate and open manner, while also renouncing the notion of historical truth, which is always a dangerous notion because there are historical facts, but there is not one single historical truth. One person might consider the same fact from different angles, still. And, also, we need to acknowledge that any politics of the past is, yeah, stuck with certain risks, because there is always the risk of instrumentalization of history.
Having said all that, it's clear that education is the key driver of achieving this very goal. The role of education is many fold in the sense of it raises awareness of diversity in both the past and the present, and it can provide the necessary tools to address national histories impartially and in a broader European and global context. But it can also, and this leads back to the original question of this hearing, encourage engagement and the ability to give and receive criticism. And what are the key instruments for doing so? Well, on the one hand, it's curricula and principles of teaching, meaning what are young people learning at school, but also teacher training.
Obviously, how teachers are training history. Do they do it in an engaging way, or is it rather in the old-fashioned way of learning just the dates of when Roman emperors, you know, ruled? In other words, it's about what we have to achieve is developing a dynamic civic culture, and one that goes beyond the enlightenment idea of, so dare to think, and goes into more dare to act on the basis of the knowledge that you have gained through self-critical reflection. That brings me to the end of my presentation and the question, as you might say, these are nice philosophical reflections, but do we even have the instruments to achieve that? Well, subsidiarity does leave the EU with relatively limited numbers of competencies in the field of education, but there are instruments available.
The one is project funding that is available. We can think of the SERVE program. That's the most obvious one where European remembrance is supported, but also networks of towns where young people, for example, can exchange about history in this context, but also other existing programs like Erasmus Plus and Creative Europe create opportunities to do exactly what I tried to outline. Another initiative, and I'm just mentioning this last example, are B and multinational history textbooks, and I think we have some promising examples. The Franco-German history textbook, meaning the same textbook is used in France and in Germany, but also the example of the German-Polish history textbook, Europe, our history, that is also now adopted both in Germany and in Poland.
With that said, let me conclude by saying the following. History and politics are obviously still two different things. What we might wish to see aspiring in terms of what we can achieve is sometimes confronted with a hard reality. If we know that still most national curricula are mainly about national histories. There is relatively little on Europe, but also on the regional history.
Still, I truly believe in the ability that we can learn from history, not in the old Ciceronian sense of something happened in history, and if you do the same thing, we will get the same result. But we can learn from history as something that gives an idea of injustices, of the things how they should be done, and so forth. But in order to achieve that, we have to get rid of two misconceptions. The first is historical memory is not having everyone thinking about the same history, and the second one is a misconception about citizenship. Citizenship is not about having all citizens believe in the same thing.
It's about citizens sharing the same beliefs and values. And on that note, I think nothing speaks against us keeping our national, regional, and local identities, but absolutely nothing keeps us from also watching them through a European lens. On that note, thank you for your attention.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Thank you very much. Jan Gvijim, we can start.
Yes. As we can see, history is very takes up a lot of information. It's difficult to put a limit, a time limit, on it. So now we have Missus Toynova, who is connected remotely. You also have 10 minutes.
Welcome. Go.
Ahead. You have ten minutes.
Radostina Chaprazova
Honorable chairs, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this important discussion. I speak today from the perspective of civil society and as a country director of a Red Youth Foundation in Bulgaria, an organization working to support young people from vulnerable communities, particularly Roma youth, in their transition from education into leadership and active civic participation. Our work is guided by core principles. Education must not only lead to qualification, but to inclusion, agency, and long-term opportunity. Education remains one of the most powerful tools to overcome poverty and exclusion.
However, it only fulfills this role when it is accessible, inclusive, and supported by meaningful pathways beyond the classroom. In Bulgaria, many young people, particularly Roma youth and those from rural and marginalized communities and youth in institutions, continue to face structural barriers. This includes poverty, unequal access to quality education, limited exposure to support systems and role models, low expectations from institutions and society, and persistent discrimination. The result is not only educational disadvantage, but also gradual disengagement from education, from opportunity, and from a sense of belonging in society. While these realities are local, they reflect broader European patterns that require coordinated attention at the policy level.
In response, our work is built on a long term integrated support model that accompanies young people from secondary education through university and into early career development. We have consistently seen that education becomes truly transformative when it is combined with guidance, opportunity, and sustained encouragement. In such conditions, young people do not only remain in education. They develop confidence, ambition, and a belief that they belong and can succeed. Let me highlight a few of the key approaches we use to support education as a tool for empowerment.
At the foundation of our work is educational advancement. We support Roma students to complete secondary and higher education in Bulgaria, while also encouraging academic excellence, participation in STEM fields, and the development of twenty-first century skills. Within this pillar, academic merit scholarships play an important supporting role. For many young people from low-income backgrounds, financial barriers determine whether education is accessible or out of reach. Scholarships help remove these barriers, while also sending a clear message.
Your potential is recognized, your effort matters, and you belong in education. A second key element in our work is mentorship and access to role models. Young people progress when they are guided by those who have already walked a similar path. Through structured mentorship, we connect students with peers, university professors as academic mentors, and Roma and non-Roma professionals as career mentors. This combination provides not only guidance, but also motivation, perspective, and practical support, helping young people navigate both education and professional development.
A third pillar is the creation of transformative, safe, and empowering spaces. Through initiatives such as our national leadership camps and national Roma girls' camps, we provide intensive personal and leadership development experiences for Roma youth across Bulgaria. This program strengthens confidence, expands leadership capacity, and deepens on the identity and belonging. Participants also learn how to respond constructively to discrimination and hate speech. A particular focus is placed on Roma girls and young women who often face both gender-based and ethnic discrimination, as well as additional community pressures.
The results of these long-term investments are tangible. Since 2011, nearly 1,000 trauma youth have participated in our leadership camps, and more than ninety-five percent of them continue their education or complete secondary education, and around sixty percent progress to university. We have supported over 500 Roma University students across more than 13 universities and over 30 academic fields, achieving a 98 percent continuation and completion rate. Overall, more than 5,005 trauma youth across Bulgaria have benefited from our programs. Many are now professionals, community leaders, and advocates for positive change.
But beyond the numbers, the most important outcome is transformation. Many of these young people are the first in their families to complete secondary education or to pursue higher education. They begin insecurely and live with confidence to lead. This leads to a critical dimension of education, its role in fostering active citizenship and democratic engagement. In our work, we place a strong emphasis on linking academic success with civic engagement.
Since 2011, our youth volunteer network has implemented 150 initiatives in 42 community projects, contributing to stronger and more inclusive communities. This creates a powerful multiplier effect where education leads to engagement, and engagement reinforces democratic participation and social cohesion. We must also recognize a broader challenge. When young people feel excluded from education and decision-making, they are far less likely to participate in democratic processes and more vulnerable to disengagement and polarization. Despite formal equality, Roma youth continue to face barriers to participation on local, national, and European levels.
There is a gap between existing EU opportunities and the ability of marginalized youth to access them. To address this, we established the Arete Youth Council, a platform led entirely by Roma University students, enabling them to continue in decision making, advocacy, and program development. Six members of the council will attend the European Parliament on the occasion of the European Roma Week, following an invitation by a member of parliament, mister Khristo Petrov. This is essential because young people will believe in Europe only if they see their voices matter. Allow me to summarize three key lessons from our experience.
First, education must be inclusive, accessible, and supported by holistic systems that extend beyond the classroom. Long term use investment is essential. Short term interventions cannot break long-standing cycles of exclusion. And third, empowered young people create lasting change, not only for themselves but for their families, communities, and societies. To conclude, I would like to offer three recommendations.
First, strengthen the link between education and active citizenship in European policies, ensure sustained and long-term investment in marginalized youth, including Roma communities, and guarantee meaningful participation of young people in decision-making processes. Investing in inclusive education is not only a social responsibility, but a strategic investment in Europeans' in Europe's future. When young people are empowered through education, they contribute to more inclusive, resilient, and democratic societies. Thank you.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Thank you. Thank you very much. Last speech, Diana Yaboinska, please.
Diana Yaboinska
Thank you very much, honorable chairs, distinguished members, guests, dear colleagues, friends. Are speaking last, actually, I learned so much. And I will try to also make links to my distinguished speakers because I think that's my aim will be here to show how policies on EU level and also the instrument can support the recommendations that we just heard and also the important messages that we had during the presentations. So, of course, first of all, the subject of this public hearing is indeed amazing and extremely important, and I, and it's totally in the heart of the policies that we try to pursue on the EU level and also to support them with the EU financing. I have in mind, of course, the European education area that, of course, subscribes to these objectives, the union of skills, but also, of course, our youth strategy, the new strategy that we have on intergenerational fairness, to mention just a few of those that really strongly recognize the power of education for empowering youth, but also empowering all citizens and also to ensure inclusiveness in all stages of life.
And we are, of course, working further, and I'm here sparked by the recommendations that we just heard. We will also be working on basic skills, on the foundations of skills for all citizens. And I'm here thinking about five basic skills, meaning the mathematics, the science, the literacy, all that we know, but also the digital one and the citizenship, which we definitely see from EU level as a skill which is also in the foundation of the skill set that we all should have. And we are working, therefore, on the so-called education package that the commission will be putting forward at the end of the year to indeed focus on basic skills, also on teachers, on educators to ensure that indeed this objective of education as a driver for inclusiveness and empowerment is further supported. But even more importantly, I think it's as we are right now in the midst of discussions related to the next multi-financial framework, I think it's also very important to, of course, elaborate a bit more on the programs that can support what we have in mind and what we want to deliver for the policies.
Erasmus Plus has enormous power, of course. It's one of the most known programs, if not the most known program of the EU, and that's the reason behind it. It's because it is trying to address this objective that we are discussing right now, and because of it that it also addresses young people and individuals throughout their life. But it also has the power of learning from initiatives as those presented today. That means it's the cooperation, the partnerships that the Erasmus plus is putting forward allows us to learn what works, sometimes locally, sometimes on the member state level, and bring it to another place, to another member state and basically make it an EU success as the EVP, Minsato, often says.
So this is enormous powers of the program and therefore can support exchanges of best practices and scaling up. And, of course, the heart of the program are mobilities, which are extremely important, and we, I think, all see that it's important for the experiences of young people or those that participate in Erasmus from the perspective of involved on developing skills which are important for the labor market, for the competitiveness for our economies, but also for the citizenship. It's so important because it is built that citizenship democracy stands on people participating in the program. So therefore, of course, we are very much wanting to, well, make Erasmus better and bigger, which is, of course, sounds very simple, but, of course, it's not that simple. But we are doing our best together with, of course, European Parliament as well to ensure that Erasmus reaches more people, but when in the next programming period and also reach more people from also disadvantaged backgrounds.
If you had a chance maybe to look at the new proposal by the commission, that's already a very important article, which is speaking about the inclusion with important measures put forward that we want to pursue, learn from what works right now, and pursue it even further. And in addition to coming back also to the citizenship angle that we are also discussing today, learning about the EU, learning about the values is also going to be accompanying even more the mobilities as proposed right now in the new regulation. Of course, we are in the negotiations, but this is the proposal that we have on the table. And of course, Erasmus plus is very much also supporting youth, the objectives put by the youth strategies, also volunteering. It will also bring inclusiveness even closer through novelties that we are proposing.
For example, proposing stronger focus on sports, which has a very strong inclusiveness potential, stronger focus also on, for example, on the school sector when, as you can see, there are novelties proposed there, school alliances, for example, which also we believe will have a strong potential. And also the scholarships that were just mentioned. Exactly scholarships for those talented Europeans that maybe otherwise, it's in the proposal. We hope it will be there, but I'm just saying that the commission is proposing this as well for consideration as a potential important action that can help talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds to work to continue education. All action that we have took activities within Erasmus that we taken so far are already allowed to increase the inclusiveness of the program from around 10% to right now more than 70%.
And in the future programming period, we believe that we can achieve better results. Let me also turn to the policies again, because I already mentioned a few. But I think here, very important, we have to mention the youth strategy, especially that we are having very few weeks no. In 24, we are starting here in parliament the youth week, which is a discussion empowerment of young people to take part in the discussions on EU and national levels because it is the youth week that is starting, which will start here in the parliament, but also activities will be basically all around Europe. And this is one of the activities that we are doing very concretely to support young generations to have their voice when we are developing policies.
And we are, of course, very much trying to set the precedence and also show a model to members that and also to other countries. And here I have in mind also the youth checks that we are putting forward. So all the commission proposals, main commission proposals, right now have to go through the youth checks to see how they will impact young people. We have very important youth dialogues, as you know, with young people across Europe, but also with our commissioners that are conducting such dialogues with the young people. And in addition, we also have advisory boards to the president and stakeholders group that are helping us to shape policies.
This is a concrete example of a strategy in practice that I think is really helping to do and very much empower young people. And Erasmus is, of course, also supporting such actions for the youth. And here, we also have the new strategy that was just published, it is a very first of its kind of EU level, which is intergenerational fairness. There, of course, all generations are important, even the one that is not talking to us yet because it's too small. So we have to take into account those that have no voice or potential yet because they are just simply too young to speak, so that the policies that are being taken take into account the impact on those young people that right now cannot yet even consider discussing with us, but one day will.
So, that's the logic between this new strategy is indeed to ensure that the policies that we are making consciously and that they support policymaking, but also support having fair opportunities across the generations and also fair places, meaning that it doesn't matter when we are born. We should have a similar opportunities. That's in a huge nutshell, but my time is passing, and I def wanted to show how important the role of education is, for empowering each citizen, for developing citizenship, for ensuring that we have a Europe that is competitive, but also with a strong citizenship and citizens, how important it is in the policies that we are having right now. And just to give you a brief outline on what we are planning for the next MFF with the Erasmus. Thank you very much.
Barzog?
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Yes. Thank you very much, director. We've heard from the commission, who has said that the Erasmus Plus program should be enlarged, that we should be sending more children and young people around Europe. So we would need a slightly larger budget. So hopefully, that will be the case.
Now, questions and answers. On behalf of the EPP, I have a couple of brief questions to Mr. Kukchik. Obviously, we need a holistic approach, horizontal cross-cutting attitudes. But if everything is important, then sometimes I have the impression that there's nothing really essential.
There's nothing you can pick out as the most important element. So, when it comes to protecting the youngest generation, what are the most important elements? When we're talking about emotions, we don't always talk about them in detail. We talk about controlling emotions, moderating emotions. So what is your view, the viewpoint of a psychologist or a psychiatrist?
And especially if we're talking about the age group of young children, 5 to 7, especially that particular stage of development. And then to Hannes Heide, you're the next one on the list.
Hannes Heide
Thank you very.
Thank you very much for your presentations. This morning, we had a dialogue with the vice president, Minsato, and that was about the need for a proper budget for Erasmus plus so that each European citizen can also participate. So I'd like to go into detail about that, but I wanted to stress something, and that's that success in education, as before, is really influenced by a person's social origin. And that it's particularly important in terms of democratic education to be more active, to come back to what Marcus Pruch was saying, and to talk about history because that is also political education. And I'd like to think about the results of a youth study in Austria where 14,000 people were surveyed, 49% of those questioned are interested in politics, and only 42% are happy with democracy.
That was a value that used to be 70. If we want to help young people, we want young people to be involved, and we want to have a youth check, then that means that we need political education that has to take place in schools, and it has to be more prioritized. We also know where young people get their political information, and that's on internet platforms. That also means that digital competencies have to be increased. It means that we have a mandate to act there.
On March 23, the commission released new guidelines on AI, digital education, and related issues. So my question is, how can we make sure that we also bring these issues into the classroom? And in conclusion, I'd like to mention another study that was presented to us here in the cult committee. And according to that, as I remember it, three-quarters of young people in the European Union think that they don't have enough digital competencies. They themselves think that about themselves.
But we would think that they would be those who were digitally savvy because they are the ones who use the digital space, but they themselves think that they don't have sufficient education in this area. So how would you react to that description of the situation that young people themselves feel? Thank you.
Sandro Ruotolo
Please. Please. Thank you, chair. We realize that this question of education is so important when I'm promoting individual talent, and it builds critical thought. We have to try and see what tools we have to be able to express and feel reality.
We can't have empowerment without these cultural aspects. So Erasmus is something that we should have all over Europe, but there are so many parts of Europe where they don't have Erasmus. And as my colleague said, there is this subject, the whole matter of economic discrimination, the different speeds in different places. So even today, in 2026, there are so many territorial areas around Europe where there is a shortage of educational services for inclusion. And I think that what was said by the Bulgarian colleagues, talking about the Roma community and how fragile and vulnerable they are.
Well, what I wanted to say when it comes to this social unease, sometimes there is a red line. The other day, in fact, I was talking to Europe, Holland. There's a new phenomenon. We have to be able to realize and intercept young people online, peep at young people who are ready to become killers and criminals. And Europol, in fact, now I'm not a sociologist, but Europol are working on this subject.
So I think that education has to be the first pillar of our policy. And there's an experience or an experiment that's taking place in a vulnerable area near where I live. They're looking at sport, how sport can be used in these risk areas. I give you the football or a football pitch if you go to the school. And so, for the future of Europe, our Europe, we need talent.
We need knowledge. Thank you.
Carolina Morace
Thank you, chair. So education is a key instrument for empowerment of young generations, but it's also an area where very often to see that it actually accelerates social dis inequality. And so in Europe, where we have transition change taking place ecological, geopolitical, and digital, we need to look and see what kind of educational models we need to really build. And so there are two questions I would like to ask our experts. How can we guarantee that European educational policy will not be limited to promoting skills that are purely functional for the labor market, but we need, in fact, to be informing citizens who are critical and who are able to participate fully in democratic life.
That is what my colleague, in fact, will say, Mr. Rotolo. The second question is what are the tools that need to be strengthened at European level and national level to guarantee access to quality education if, in fact, there are ongoing inequalities, territorial and otherwise, and these limit the opportunities of many young people around Europe. Thank you.
Stanislav Staník
I'm going to speak in Czech, and I would like to thank all participants for very inspiring contributions to me because since 2000, I have been involved in training of teachers in civic education. It is at the University of Palatzky in Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and I very well understand what the professor has spoken about here. The problem we are faced with is the education system and the curriculum. This is in full competence of the member states. And there, the influence of national tradition and approaches is felt greatly.
When I look at our experience in the Czech Republic in connection with the transformation after 1989. We know that the education towards citizenship and humanitarian sciences were supported. Financial means were given to educating teachers and to developing these democratic disciplines. But at the moment, at some point in time, we said that the citizens, the teachers, the Czech Republic is fully democratic and we are a well established democratic state, then the funds that were available for that kind of education diminished. And at the same time, the education system started to respond to new needs such as digital skills. Of course, STEM disciplines and humanities were sort of pushed to the side as something that is not so much needed for practical life.
And here, I feel that Europe and the European Union could play a role. European Union could design projects in which schools and universities could be involved in such a way that next to their national resources, they could draw additional resources in order to develop democratic, civic and education and humanities. So what I appreciate here is the increase in fund for Erasmus plus. This is very important because the experiences students gain, whether positive or negative, and there are negative experiences, we have to admit that. But at the same time, I would like to go back to discussing an amount of funds which would be available for developing civic skills. And my last comment, I also very much appreciate the idea of connecting history and civic education.
Speaker 25
In our department, we have historians, but we ourselves are political scientists and sociologists. And we maybe there is a bit of a turf war, but it is very important to have that interlink. We have to teach dates and facts, but we have to use history as a frame for today's life.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Yes. Thank you very much. The full members have spoken, and any coordinators are here. Then obviously, I have to make sure that everybody is satisfied. Now slightly correct the round.
Missus Gomez, mister Pietrov, and yes. You go ahead. Thank.
Zsuzsanna Borvendég
thank you very much. I am grateful for the presentation by our guests, guest speakers. I am very thankful to mister Kupchik for emphasizing the role of parents. We very rarely talk about the responsibilities and tasks of parents in education. This is the real front line of raising our children, especially the moral ethical education of our children, teaching them respect, and this is also a shared task for the parents and the institutions, being European institutions as well.
We need to talk about the impact of offline education. We shouldn't forget about the actual, let's call it, knowledge, real old school knowledge, not just online skills. History is very important. I'm a historian myself. Teaching our children history is something I must underline.
I come from the academic world, historian and researcher. I researched dictatorship in the twentieth century, and I am fully aware that history and remembrance are something that belong closely together whether we like it or not. There's a war of narratives in the teaching of history. This is normal. This is the way it has always been.
Professor has spoken about our position on our historic knowledge. This is something very close to my heart, and there are many statements in this, in our position paper, that I cannot agree with at all. I think that national histories forge our national identities. Our knowledge of our national histories is what makes us unique, which makes us who we are, and this adds up to a very diverse European culture. And in our resolution, talk about, we say that European history is above national histories and is more important than national histories, but there is no such thing as European history.
European history is nothing more than the sum of national histories. That's why our deep knowledge of our national history is more important. It comes first and foremost. Our resolution talks about colonization and that it was one of our sins, but we fail to mention that colonization is not something that we, for example, in Hungary, don't have to deal with. Hungary was not only a colonial power, but rather we were almost a modern time colony of the Soviet Union.
So we did not colonize. We were colonized. So the sin of colonization is not something that we can share, that we can take responsibility for. Why is this important? This is reflected in how we deal with illegal migration, because Hungary will not accept illegal immigrants, because we don't think we have anything to do with this.
We share no responsibility as a non-colonial power. So what I'm trying to say is that, of course, we should know our own history first and foremost, but we should also know each other's history. This is the basis for our future cooperation and understanding.
Missus.
Speaker 31
Thank you very much. I'd like to start off by thanking the experts for being here, and I'd like to address a couple of points. We're talking about education systems, obviously, which are supported by parents and teachers, and this is important for our societies. I think the major problem, the major issue is that in the classroom, parents seem to think that education is up to the school, so they don't feel it's their responsibility. They think it's the responsibility of schools and teachers.
Isilda Gomes
So then it's difficult for those young people who don't really get any kind of support either from their families or from the school. So we have to try and do something to break this cycle of exclusion. Social exclusion is a difficult problem to solve. And when you have parent teacher meetings, it's usually only the parents that come along who are better educated. There are other parents who don't really see education or schools as having any kind of intrinsic value.
Speaker 31
We have good teachers, but I think we are going to have to improve the level of training of the teachers so that they're better prepared to deal with these kinds of situations. Civic society, civil society, when it comes to certain subjects, it's very difficult to train or educate in tourist regions. The parents sometimes are working until very late at night because of the kind of jobs they have, and the children are so-called, well, they're out in the streets because they don't have the keys to their home. So they aren't able to do their homework. They can't study, and they don't have the right kind of support.
Isilda Gomes
Sometimes, yes, there are associations or organizations that are trying to plug the gap. But I think there has to be better organization in those kinds of situations. And on the subject of immigrants, I'm very proud to be able to say that in the region that I come from, I was mayor of a fairly large town. I'm proud to say that there were schools in that region with 40 different languages, and all the pupils were properly integrated. And some of the best pupils were foreigners, as it were immigrants, and some of the best sportsmen and women, the athletes, from outside.
Speaker 31
And this whole thing about immigrants colonizing us, no. Immigrants do not colonize. Immigrants bring another kind of opportunities. I would have a lot more to say, of course. I'm a teacher, a math teacher, which is not an easy subject.
And so I have obviously taught and accompanied very many pupils, and I've worked together with drug addicts as well. So I have been able to monitor all of these problems quite closely. Then moving on to history. One history teacher who said that without memory, without history, there is no future. That's something I'll never forget.
Isilda Gomes
So it's absolutely essential that we know how to transmit real history. You may not necessarily agree. You may have a different opinion, but we do have to be able to transmit the teachings of history. We shouldn't be afraid of teaching about history, communicating history, even the most recent history. For example, in my own country, when it comes to the national public holiday, the April revolution, that's what restored democracy to my country.
Sometimes people are afraid of talking about recent historical events, and that shouldn't really be the case. We have to be able to help young people change the way they understand their position in society in the world. They have to become true Europeans here. Then finally, I bring a lot of students to Brussels, visitors groups. And this weekend, I got some very positive feedback.
Speaker 31
And once they saw how the European Parliament works, so all sorts of things, they learned about a lot of things how the parliament works, this very different life, this world, I suppose. And some of them are going to change their subjects, school as a result of that, in line with what they've learned about. So there's a lot to be done. So that
Hristo Petrov
Thank you, chair. Well, as I understand, it's a round of questions, and maybe it looks a bit weird, but I have a question, not a speech as some of my colleagues. And my question goes to Rodostina Strianovacoprazova. From your experience working with children and youth in vulnerable situations, what are the main barriers to implementing and scaling up initiatives like the camps you organize, both in terms of access and awareness and the capacity of organizations to design strong proposals and manage funding? How do existing programs, such as Erasmus Plus and European Solidarity Corps, fit into this landscape?
Are there any areas that cannot be covered with their current structure, and what will be needed to scale these initiatives further, including across borders? Thank you.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Yes. Thank you very much. And finally, Janssen, thank you for your patience. Go ahead. You have the floor.
Marc Jongen
Yes. Thank you very much.
I have a question for mister Prucch. You're talking about the European culture of remembrance, so you try to sketch this out. As an AFT member of parliament, I've always been responsible for remembrance in the German parliament on the NS crimes, Holocaust, etcetera. And in this context, in Germany, of course, there are the memories of Stalin and the dictatorship. And I have always said that these are the kind of things that we must remember, we should not forget.
And it's negative for a country and the awareness of a country to focus on its identity and to build up its identity on these negative elements. Obviously, this hasn't meant that in Germany, there have been antisemitism scandals, Documenta, for example, similar incidents, and we see an increase in antisemitism. So we're talking about this whole culture of remembrance. You referred to it. And you have said that, obviously, it's not only a question about looking at history positively, but there's a negative aspect in the context of postcolonialism.
So I would like to know how you view this, because in my opinion, this is a somewhat problematic instrumentalization of history. If you take a negative image of your own history, in order then to with the migration policy or development policy, which is based on guilt and awareness of guilt. And you say it's right that we open our doors to immigrants, limit and share them out because we had in the past, these historic crimes were committed. This is a kind of black-and-white image of our history. We know, of course, that there are differentiated opinions, and I think we really ought to be against this.
So what would you say on that? And if we want to focus on the more positive aspects, would it not be a good idea to have some kind of positive Europeanness, and base this on culture, the cultural heritage, and look at all the good things that have been done in the area of culture, music, literature. I mean, there's a great wealth of things that we could draw on. And then we could sort of leave aside the wars that have meant that we've been in confrontation. And maybe we could use that to build up a European identity, which is positive.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Have only twenty minutes for a person. So.
Let's start off with Mister Kupchik. You can choose which question you would like to reply to.
Thank.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
you. Perhaps I could start off with what the minister said at the beginning, the chair of the committee on five year olds and emotions. This is very important. If a five-year-old child goes to a psychologist or psychiatrist, then it means that something hasn't gone well. There's something wrong with the system.
So you would have to give some thought to what happened during the first five years of the life of that child for it then to be diagnosed in such a way that the child has to go to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. I think what is important, obviously, is the parents. The parents have a huge impact on how the child is going to act at school, because everything they've learned at home is going to have an impact on how they act at school. And obviously, this is something that's very important. Their emotions involved sometimes, as adults, we find it difficult to deal with some of the emotions.
Damian Kupczyk
So there are programs, funding for programs within the context of Erasmus. I think it would be good to have an Erasmus program for parents, which would allow parents who are committed and engaged. Now very often, when parents realize that they are going to become parents, as it were, and the children, they should have some kind of training on what kind of food they should give to their children. You read all about this in sort of guidebooks, self-help books, and then all of a sudden you stop doing that because perhaps the children start school and you hand over responsibility to the schools. And then obviously, how do we work together with the parents?
Parents very often think about their own future, and we have to give some thought to the role of the parents. And according to Polish research, eighty percent of some of the disorders of children at school, this is from their environment. It's nothing to do with genetics. This is because of the fact that the environment they've been growing up in wasn't the right kind of environment. And then, social inequality.
Obviously, this is a problem linked to the system. If we don't really do something about education, well, we know that in the education system, you have teachers and students. And a lot of teachers say that they suffer from burnout. And very often, they don't have much motivation to continue with their work, sometimes. Obviously, you have experts.
We have committees of experts, but the teachers don't need experts. They need systems that are adapted to their needs. And very often, I mean, I myself have been a teacher and have been involved in programs. And if whoever it is that's responsible for implementing a program that has been developed, sometimes it doesn't necessarily work, and it completely upsets the way in which my class is structured. And sometimes, I'm not able to focus on time on what I would like to do.
I neglect that. And then support and financial compensation. Right from the outset, we have to tell the parents that they're responsible for how the children are brought up and educated. And we have to look at those tools and instruments and the support that takes us to the local level, not necessarily the global level. We have to draw on the potential of those operating at a more local level.
Markus J. Prutsch
Good. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for the comments and the questions. I would perhaps start with Annis Haides. Important point of not just that education still depends very much on the social status and the opportunities that you get, but that we are also witnessing a decline in democracy in many European countries, or rather the preparedness again for a strong man.
I mean, service show horrible figures when you think about it. The question, of course, what to do about it is a challenging one, because there is obviously no silver bullet. And I think you have already mentioned at least two of the potential avenues to pursue. The one is citizenship education in German in the German context, but also given where comes a lot of the frustration, but also the misinformation, it's the digital world. So digital skills is a key component that also needs to fit into the larger picture.
But I think the third element, and this was raised essentially by many of the speakers here, is also that in a way we have to go beyond the classroom. I mean, teaching is a key element. Citizenship education is key. Digital skills are key. But in the end, it's also about creating opportunities outside of the classroom, be it sport, but also be it Erasmus plus.
Because maybe the best way of creating a sense of European belonging, and this is not even in the sense of European identity or just believing the EU is the best thing ever, but at least thinking European is maybe simply going to another country, realizing that the food in another country is also tasting quite well, and you can find friends somewhere else. So I think this is one of the key avenues to pursue in the future as well, to create more opportunities, especially for disadvantaged groups to do this or, you know, in the local context, you know, getting opportunities outside the classroom so that they are not, as Missus Gomez said, you know, essentially on the street and left alone there. I would perhaps also take up what Missus Borveinec said, and I think maybe we might not even be so far apart in the sense of that, obviously, it's very important to know your own history. Because if you don't even know your history, how would you be able to understand the larger context? My point was rather to say, however, you know, we should not forget about other forms of history too, because national history is one.
But, you know, there's a regional history, a local history, a family history. But also beyond Europe, there's a global history. You know? These histories are interlinked, so we should just not forget, you know, and think that national history is the only possible form of history that we should reflect upon. But I strongly believe as well what you are saying, that in order to understand larger context, you need to know yourself and where you are coming from.
And this leads me maybe to the last question.
Thank you very much also for your question about how we deal with the past involving the Nazis, of course, in Germany, Austria, and also with certain provisors that has shaped their remembrance culture in Germany, and we might also talk about the German Democratic Republic as well. This idea of a purely negative remembrance culture that you mentioned, I think, well, in fact, it would be difficult to say. And that's also true for the European Union. We have a negative remembrance myth, we might say. We don't we're not building on something that we want to identify with, but rather something that we want to distance ourselves from.
And that's not really the way member states build their myths, because normally they are built on something that people actually like. The on the declaration of independence, for example, in a particular member state. So but we might also say that we have to also include other negative elements. I think that's very important. We could talk about colonialism and imperialism.
They can be included as well. But there's also nothing here to say that we shouldn't be proud of our cultural heritage and other things. I think the question is that we cannot leave aside all of the negative aspects. We have to have a multifaceted look at the past, and that consists of positive and negative sides. Thank you.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
Very much. Next, Radostina Stojanova. Please. Four minutes.
Radostina Chaprazova
Thank you very much. I'll be speaking Bulgarian. Thank you very much for the questions, Mr. Petrov. Informal learning is supplementary to the formal one. Still, unfortunately, the situation is like that, that institutions teaching children from vulnerable communities practically adopt methods to keep children in the classroom.
And, they do not pay attention to developing social skills in those children so that they can become young, strong people, free with their own opinions. It's very important in that context to create preconditions and possibilities to create educated people, so that they themselves could be role models. And this is the role of informal learning and all the methods applied. There are numerous barriers. And I mentioned some of the initiatives in my presentation.
Very often, however, there are barriers to those processes, namely a majority of the initiatives on both national and union levels promote informal methods of education, but they leave inaccessible to all those groups of vulnerable young people. Besides, there is a lot of lack of trust as regards to the personal development of those people. When a child has been excluded for a long time, people tend to think that practically they cannot develop further. And when there is a lack of understanding in the family, then it's getting even more difficult for these children. And here is the role of the school of NGOs and all stakeholders to step in and ensure fair and early access for those children to such initiatives.
And there should be a way to support such families in vulnerable communities, because it's very difficult to build trust in people. It takes a lot of time. It is possible, but it's hard. And this is the way to actually stop the vicious circle, still creating the isolation of those communities. Of course, there are a lot of challenges for the organizations in our context, in the context of all the NGOs.
Sometimes financial mechanisms cannot pay for all the needs in order to create such initiatives. For example, a long-term work with such people and expanding the models applied. I think it is extremely important to quote the child guarantee, which is a very important instrument, however, not fully put to use. And this should be targeted not only at early access to out-of-school initiatives like sports initiatives and others. These are very important, of course, for the behavioral development of children in vulnerable contexts.
ROSM Plus and the European Solidarity Corps are very important tools because they support a lot of young people in Europe and all sorts of mobility, and cultural diversity. But have you ever raised a point, how many of these children from vulnerable communities and young people from institutions really do have access to all those opportunities? Usually, I simply don't know anything about those programs. So I believe the programs need to be much more flexible and fully adapted to such communities, so that access is guaranteed for vulnerable young people. In order to create sustainable programs for informal education like our camps, and we know how important they are to empower young people, I believe that international cooperation is extremely important.
And here, I mean cooperation between institutions, organizations that can share their good practices and even funding when funding is lacking, because in that way, we can create a better quality service. Thank you very much. I hope I've managed to answer your questions.
Diana Yaboinska
Thank you very much. I think there are so many things to say, and I don't want to speak only about the budget. But, of course, I will address it, and we'll start with it. Of course, a commission in the initial proposal for the next MFF has already put forward an increased budget for Erasmus, as also the EVP explained this morning. And we, of course, very much count on the core legislators and institutions to help us definitely bring it up.
And this is important. This is really important, and it's important for us also to understand that there is a broad understanding that Erasmus is a program that is worth increasing. And that's not obviously the current situation, with so many demanding and important priorities like security. So definitely, this is an achievement of the program that also shows the power of education and power of exchanges related to education and working together in this area. In addition, I want to mention that another thing has happened recently to maybe also reply to the question how to tap national resources or not only Erasmus resources, that we have now a human capital recommendation within the European semester.
European semester basically looks at the situation in each country and puts forward recommendations to the countries. And this is one that human capital, recommendations put to all of them and therefore also, adopted by council, recognizing the role of skills, basically, and the role of education as well. And that's supposed to also help to tap into the potential of the cohesion resources right now, structural funds in the future, the national and regional partnership plans, which, of course, will have big resources. So I think that's also important that Erasmus should, in our view, be the one, as I said before, to allow us to learn from each other and scale it up, and then scale it up through other programs as way as well pave the way. That's maybe a role that we have even more to exploit explore from Erasmus.
And just to mention that, as I said, we are working very much on all five basic skills, including digital and citizenship. And as mentioned here, we also see it extremely as a, interlinked, and digital is not only living in the digital world right now, but actually to be prepared for critical thinking because the digital is also, of course, impacting the disinformation. And therefore, link with the citizen citizenship education, it has a big potential to address the challenges that young people have to face every day when they use the little devices that we all have in our pockets. So, I believe we have a lot of things to learn to do together and to learn from each other and to, to in support of our young generation, but also, all of us actually. Thanks a lot.
Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski
I'd like to thank all of our guests. And I'd also like to thank the members for the interest that they have shown through their questions and comments. We've covered many aspects, including history. And on justification of history, then I can say that the Chupinski Family Foundation was part of the initiative behind the meeting. So I'd like to thank the representative, and also please thank the president of the foundation for this initiative.
We have had some very interesting discussions with the foundation, and we cross our fingers for those who are doing practical work as well as the theoretical work. And I would like to remind the members of the Cult Committee that we are meeting back tomorrow at 09:00, and we're going to be starting off tomorrow morning with budgetary aspects, obviously, which touch upon Erasmus plus. So I'd like to wish all of you a very pleasant evening, and thank you to everybody.
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