The European Committee of the Regions and the
European Commission will develop joint projects to
support teaching EU values in classrooms with the
help of regional and local authorities and on a voluntary basis. In a Plenary debate with
Margaritis Schinas –Vice-President of the European
Commission responsible for Promoting our European
Way of Life – regional and local leaders also
stressed that education systems should fully
respect and promote freedom, equality, tolerance
and non-discrimination. They also highlighted that
learning about the European Union, its values,
cultural heritage and diversity is vital and must
be offered in all communities, for all ages and for
every EU citizen.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
, President of the European Committee of the Regions,
said: "I thank Vice-President Schinas for the excellent
debate on how to promote our European values through
education and culture. It is our responsibility – as
parents and leaders – to offer our young generations
the tools to realise that the EU made possible today's
peace and unity. This is what we must do today, if we
want to have a tomorrow. Together with him and
Commissioner Gabriel, we want to launch a pilot project
to promote our common European values in classrooms.
This will be done on voluntary basis and in full
respect of subsidiarity, while using the momentum of
the Conference on the future of Europe''.
Margaritis Schinas
, Vice-President of the European Commission,
responsible for Promoting our European Way of Life,
said: ''Inside and outside the European Union, our
European Way of Life is being challenged. We need all
those who stand for the respect of human dignity, in a
society in which pluralism, non-discrimination,
tolerance, justice, solidarity, and equality prevail to
speak up and act. I am pleased that the Commission
together with the European Committee of the Regions
will be joining forces and call on regions and cities
across the Union to make pledges for the development of
European classrooms. We need to empower our youth in
understanding our common values, our shared history,
our cultural heritage and the importance of diversity
and pluralism for our European Way of Life''.
Anne Karjalainen
(FI/PES), Chair of the CoR's Commission for Social
Policy, Employment, Education, Research and Culture
(SEDEC) and member of Kerava City Council, said: "The
values on which the European Union is founded are the
essence of our common European identity. From these
same values derive all our rights linked to European
citizenship. This is why inaction at European level
when it comes to breaches of European values undermines
the European project. These values should be defended
and nurtured in a meaningful way by all European
educational systems and at all levels of education,
from pre-primary to post-tertiary and vocational
education. The European Committee of the Regions can be
a powerful ally in this endeavour."
During the debate, local and regional representatives
also voiced concerns over the new Hungarian law banning
LGBTIQ references for minors. The European Committee of
the Regions will adopt its position on the European
Commission's
LGBTIQ Equality Strategy
in October. The
draft opinion
, which has been drafted by Kate Feeney (IE/Renew E.),
Member of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, was
adopted by the SEDEC Commission
in April. It stresses the role of universal sex
education in fighting stereotypes and discrimination
and fostering diversity.
More information:
The
Joint Action Plan
signed between the CoR and Commissioner Mariya
Gabriel's services in November 2020 sets the objective
of promoting together European values, identities and
citizenship via education and culture at regional and
local level. Concretely, this could mean developing
innovative teaching material about European values and
European diversity, developing educational campaigns or
establishing networks of local and regional
authorities.
The CoR adopted an opinion on
Strengthening European Identity through
Education and Culture
(rapporteur Tanya Hristova, BG/EPP) in 2018. It
recommends to promote language learning from an early
age and to familiarise learners with a common European
cultural heritage, European history and the processes
of European integration.
Contact:
Lauri Ouvinen
Tel. +32 473536887
lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu