Framework for European VET policy
The EU is increasingly becoming an important forum for Germany vocational training. One central research task is thus scholarly support for the process of European integration in the field of vocational education and training, which is promoted by European decisions, initiatives and programmes (such as LEONARDO DA VINCI and SOCRATES). Education and vocational training have been gaining in importance in the context of European cooperation since the summit in Lisbon in March 2000. At the Lisbon summit the heads of government set out the objective of turning the Union into the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economic zone in the world in the coming decade.
In the ensuing period the heads of state and government set joint objectives for the further development of education and training systems which are to be implemented by 2010. The "Bruges Initiative" of the EU Commission, aimed at opening Europe by promoting transparency, accreditation and transferability of qualifications, and set out in the Copenhagen Declaration of the Ministers of Education (2002), have increased the momentum in the area of vocational training.
BIBB can provide an important basis for the formulation of European policy positions in the area of vocational training by systematically observing and analysing initiatives of the member states, the EU Commission and other EU institutions while assessing their possible impact on German vocational training.
