European Education Area: priorities by 2030

On 29 June, the Council approved a resolution on the second cycle of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area (EEA) (2026-2030). The resolution sets out the work programme for EU-level cooperation in education and training by 2030, based on an updated set of six strategic priorities developed in synergy with the Union of Skills (see Table).

First cycle: 2021–2025	Second cycle: 2026–2030	Change
1. Improving quality, equity, inclusion and success for all	1. Literacy, mathematics and science for all	Basic skills and educational achievement become an explicit headline priority. Quality, equity and inclusion become principles permeating all six priorities.
N/a	2. Developing digital skills and citizenship education	Dedicated priority, reflecting AI, disinformation, polarisation, digital well-being and challenges to democracy.
2. Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality for all	3. Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality for all	Specific attention to flexible pathways, upskilling and reskilling, implementation of Europe on the Move, school alliances, recognition, and the attraction and retention of international talent.
3. Enhancing competences and motivation in the education profession	4. Enhancing attractiveness, competences and motivation in the education and training profession	Broader focus on the attractiveness and sustainability of educational careers, including recruitment, retention, working conditions, shortages, AI-related competences and higher education careers.
N/a	5. Fostering European vocational education and training (VET)	Dedicated priority with proposed work on a European VET strategy, Centres of Vocational Excellence, apprenticeships, STEM, micro-credentials and a possible European VET diploma or label.
4. Reinforcing European higher education	6. Promoting the competitiveness of higher education in Europe	Shift from strengthening and transforming the sector towards competitiveness, attractiveness and implementation of concrete instruments.
5. Supporting the green and digital transitions in and through education and training	N/a	Digital education is incorporated into Priority 2, while the green transition is mainstreamed throughout the framework.

The resolution includes the list of EU-level targets, which have been grouped for the first time in one document. For higher education, it reconfirms the target of 23% graduates with the learning mobility experience and the annual number of 350 000 non-EU learners attracted to study and obtain a degree in the EU.

To advance the related strategic priorities, the Council emphasised the continued efforts to remove barriers to transnational cooperation by furthering the implementation of initiatives such as the European Universities alliances and the implementation of a joint European degree label according to the three-phase process agreed in May 2025, as well as enhancing automatic mutual recognition of qualifications for the purpose of further studies. The implementation of the sixth priority involves increasing efforts to attract a greater number of students from outside the EU to study and graduate in the EU and to retain talent in accordance with EU migration policy.