Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011 — ‘Youth on the move’ — promoting the learning mobility of young people - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 199/1

In its communication of 3 March 2010 entitled ‘Europe 2020 — A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’, the Commission set out as one of its priorities the development of an economy based on knowledge and innovation (‘smart growth’), and highlighted a flagship initiative (‘Youth on the Move’) in order to enhance the performance and international attractiveness of Europe's higher education institutions and to raise the overall quality of all levels of education and training in the Union, combining both excellence and equity, by promoting the mobility of young people and improving their employment situation. This Recommendation forms part of the ‘Youth on the Move’ initiative, and is consistent with the Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines.

Learning mobility, meaning transnational mobility for the purpose of acquiring new knowledge, skills and competences, is one of the fundamental ways in which young people can strengthen their future employability, as well as their intercultural awareness, personal development, creativity and active citizenship. Europeans who are mobile as young learners are more likely to be mobile as workers later in life. Learning mobility can make education and training systems and institutions more open, more European and international, more accessible and more efficient. It can also strengthen Europe's competitiveness by helping to build a knowledge-intensive society.

The benefits of mobility were underlined by the Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 14 December 2000 concerning an action plan for mobility (1), and by the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the Community for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers (2). That 2001 Recommendation invited Member States to take appropriate steps to remove obstacles to the mobility of these groups.

Much has been achieved in the area of youth mobility since the 2001 Recommendation. However, not all instruments and tools are used to the fullest extent possible and many obstacles remain. Moreover, the whole context of learning mobility has changed considerably in the last decade, inter alia, due to globalisation, technological progress, including information and communication technologies (‘ICTs’) and stronger emphasis on employability and on the social dimension.

The conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 22 May 2008 on promoting creativity and innovation through education and training emphasised that diversity and multicultural environments can stimulate creativity.

In its conclusions on youth mobility of 21 November 2008, the Council invited Member States to adopt the objective of gradually making periods of learning abroad the rule rather than the exception for all young Europeans. The Council invited the Commission to establish a work plan to include cross-border mobility measures in all European programmes and to support Member States in their efforts to promote mobility.

The Council conclusions of 26 November 2009 on the professional development of teachers and school leaders recognised that teaching staff at all levels could draw...