Pending the opinion of the European Parliament at first reading, the Council agreed on a general approach to the proposed Recommendation on “Key Competences for lifelong learning”.
The proposed Recommendation responds to a mandate given by the 2000 Lisbon Council and reiterated in the “Education and Training 2010” work programme, which called for further action to improve basic skills and to strengthen the European dimension in education. Work is to focus on identifying basic as well as traditional skills and to allow them to become better integrated on a lifelong basis. Basic skills should be made available for everyone, including those with special needs, school drop-outs and adult learners.
The draft Recommendation seeks to establish a European reference framework to define the basic skills which all citizens need to acquire, through lifelong learning, personal fulfilment and in order to improve their employment chances in a modern knowledge-based economy. The key competences (basic skills) are:
- Communication in the mother tongue;
- Communication in foreign languages;
- Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
- Digital competence; and
- Learning to learn.