On 1 July 2021, Slovenia will take over from Portugal the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Slovenia will continue implementing the joint 18-month programme of the Trio Presidency "Taking forward the Strategic Agenda" and will focus its own six-month programme "Together. Resilient. Europe." on four priorities: EU's recovery and resilience, the future of Europe, the rule of law and European values, and security and stability in the European neighbourhood.

The Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Simona Kustec, presented on 17 and 18 May the priorities of the upcoming Slovenian Presidency in the field of education, youth and sport, guided by the motto “health for knowledge, youth and sport”. EU Ministers for Education, Youth, Culture and Sports met on 17 and 18 May in Brussels to discuss equity and inclusion in education and training, the European Universities Initiative and participation of young people in decision-making processes.

In the field of higher education and research more specifically, the key priorities of the Slovenian presidency include efficient management of the European Research Area, integration of modern competences and skills, and promotion of synergies between science and higher education, lifelong learning and mobility.

Furthermore, Slovenia’s Presidency will initiate a debate on measures that could help universities go ‘back to normal’ following Covid-19 disruptions and embed lessons learned during the pandemic into the future educational processes. This process will build on the related recommendations of the European Commission to be issued in early July. The new Presidency will work towards having these recommendations adopted at a ministerial level in late autumn.

Another education related item on the agenda includes a ministerial conference on the role of education, science, digitalisation and sport in the rapidly changing world planned for December this year. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are of special importance to the Presidency. It will organise a dedicated ministerial conference on these topics on 9 and 10 October 2021 in Slovenia.

For more details visit the Slovenian Presidency website and watch the conference here.