Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU

Under the motto “Europe, closer”, on 1 July 2023 Spain launched the six-month Council Presidency as the middle partner of the Sweden-Spain-Belgium trio. The EU’s collective action and its contribution to a global, autonomous, digital and green Europe that combines innovation and social justice are at the heart of the programme.

Measures in the field of education and research

In the field of education, the Spanish Presidency will particularly focus on the mid-term review of the European Education Area 2025, will promote Council conclusions on strengthening common European values and democratic citizenship through education, and will propose Council recommendations on improving digital literacy in education and training, and on the enabling factors for successful digital education and training. The research related measures in the second half of 2023 comprise activities to consolidate the European Research Area and to strengthen and consolidate the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean (PRIMA).

Education and research-related events

Events in the framework of education and research during the Spanish Presidency include ministerial conferences, high-level group meetings, a bi-annual working meeting of the directors of the Erasmus+ National Agencies and a meeting of the Bologna Follow-up Group, as well as various targeted stakeholder events. These include the second European University Forum on 14-15 September in Barcelona (link), and the Conference “The contribution of education to the promotion of common European values and democratic citizenship” on 3-4 October 2023 in Madrid (link). The annual conference of the European Researcher Mobility Programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie, will take place in Toledo on 14-15 November (link), and the expert conference on Science Diplomacy (link) to discuss on the EU Commission Recommendation on Science Diplomacy to be adopted in the second half of 2023 will be held in Madrid on 18-19 December.