Slovakia this July, historically for the first time, commenced its presidency of the Council of the EU. With the leading motto “fostering and development of talent’’ in the field of education, it believes to contribute to increased competitiveness, boost the economy, fuel social cohesion and support personal development.

To reach this objective, priorities in the field of education will substantially be underpinned by the New Skills agenda for Europe, the development of digital skills and the modernisation agenda. Significant efforts will also be directed at the field of Research and Innovation to sustain Europe’s leading economic position Special emphasis will be placed on creating better framework conditions that will foster the growth of a next generation of young European scientist, as well as the attraction of global research talent from third countries. Main research and development priorities include:

To advance these goals, the Slovak Presidency aims to apply a working approach for the common programme of the presidential trio (Netherlands-Slovakia-Malta) that is characterised by a focused number of activities with high impact, following in the spirit of ‘less but better’.

A series of thematic events in Bratislava, in the fields of education, science and research, youth and sports will build concerted stakeholder engagement on key priorities, ranging from: the September 12-13 kick off conference on ‘Fostering and Development of Talent’, the 15-16 November event addressing ‘Social Sciences and Humanities: A new Agenda for Europe’s challenges’ and a 9 November International Workshop ‘Career choice researcher’ that will create space for a European debate on career development of researchers and the dissemination of facilitative tools, organised by ACA member SAIA.   

Until handing over the rotating presidency to successor Malta in January 2017, Slovak best practice will leave its mark on European strategic ambitions by focusing on key competences for employment, young researchers, enhanced competitiveness addressing the role of high tech industry and digital economy, as well as the interconnection of research in tackling societal challenges.
  

Programme & Priorities of the Slovak Presidency

Presentation of Slovak Presidency priorities in research