European Education Area midterm review event
Main topics
The midterm review event agenda follows the findings provided by the European Commission report on the progress of the European Education Area.
The main discussion topics include:
- citizenship education
- supporting teachers
- boosting equity and inclusion in education and training
- automatic mutual recognition
Practical details
The morning session will take place in the Berlaymont building and will be accessible through webstreaming (link will be available on the day of the event).
The afternoon session will take place in the Albert Borschette Conference Centre and will be in person only.
Programme
Biography
Margaritis Schinas took office as Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life in the Von der Leyen Commission in December 2019. In this capacity, he oversees the EU’s policies for migration, security union, social rights, skills, education, culture, youth, health and dialogue with churches, religious associations and non-confessional organisations.
Mr Schinas started his career in the European Commission in 1990. He also served as a Member of the European Parliament, from 2007 until 2009. Upon the completion of his parliamentary term of office, he returned to the European Commission and held various senior positions. In 2010, President Barroso appointed Mr Schinas as Deputy Head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers. Later he served as Resident Director and Head of the Athens Office of the European Commission's Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). In 2014, President Juncker appointed Mr Schinas as the European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson.
Margaritis Schinas holds an MSc on Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics, a Diploma of Advanced European Studies on European Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Degree in Law from the Aristotelean University of Thessaloniki.
Biography
Roberta Metsola was elected President of the European Parliament in January 2022. She was first elected as the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2013, then re-elected in 2014 and 2019. In 2020 she was elected as the First Vice-President of the European Parliament. She was responsible for the European Parliament's relations with national parliaments and for the Parliament's participation in the interreligious and non-confessional dialogue.
Within the European Parliament, President Metsola was the European Peoples Party Group's Coordinator in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. She was also the Parliament's rapporteur on the European Border and Coastguard Regulation in 2019. She co-authored the Parliament's own-initiative report on the need to protect journalists in the European Union from Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation.
Prior to her election as a MEP, President Metsola served within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union and later as the legal advisor to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Professionally she is a lawyer specialised in European law and politics. She graduated from the University of Malta and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Biography
Iliana Ivanova is the newly appointed Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. Previously, she was a member of the European Court of Auditors, Dean of Chamber II responsible for audits in the field of Investment for cohesion, growth and inclusion. She is a former member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control and Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on the Economic, Financial and Social Crisis. She has worked for Sofia City Council, and in the field of investment, business analysis and finances. Iliana Ivanova holds a master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics in Varna, and a MBA from the Thunderbird University in Arizona.
Biography
Sabine Verheyen has been a Member of the European Parliament for the German Christian Democrats (CDU) since 2009. In 2019 she got elected as Chairwoman of the Committee for Culture and Education, after having served as coordinator for the European People`s Party in this committee for five years. She focuses in particular on education and media policy as well as digital agenda issues. As former mayor of Aachen (1999 to 2009) she focuses additionally on issues that are of relevance to the local authorities.
She has been co-rapporteur for the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive and has been a Member of the European Parliament’s annual delegation to the Internet Governance Forum since 2009. Sabine Verheyen studied architecture at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
Biography
Biography
Margaritis Schinas took office as Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life in the Von der Leyen Commission in December 2019. In this capacity, he oversees the EU’s policies for migration, security union, social rights, skills, education, culture, youth, health and dialogue with churches, religious associations and non-confessional organisations.
Mr Schinas started his career in the European Commission in 1990. He also served as a Member of the European Parliament, from 2007 until 2009. Upon the completion of his parliamentary term of office, he returned to the European Commission and held various senior positions. In 2010, President Barroso appointed Mr Schinas as Deputy Head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers. Later he served as Resident Director and Head of the Athens Office of the European Commission's Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). In 2014, President Juncker appointed Mr Schinas as the European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson.
Margaritis Schinas holds an MSc on Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics, a Diploma of Advanced European Studies on European Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Degree in Law from the Aristotelean University of Thessaloniki.
Biography
Sabine Verheyen has been a Member of the European Parliament for the German Christian Democrats (CDU) since 2009. In 2019 she got elected as Chairwoman of the Committee for Culture and Education, after having served as coordinator for the European People`s Party in this committee for five years. She focuses in particular on education and media policy as well as digital agenda issues. As former mayor of Aachen (1999 to 2009) she focuses additionally on issues that are of relevance to the local authorities.
She has been co-rapporteur for the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive and has been a Member of the European Parliament’s annual delegation to the Internet Governance Forum since 2009. Sabine Verheyen studied architecture at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
Biography
Emil Boc- Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the second-largest city in Romania, in terms of size and economic development. Member of the A Soul for Europe Advisory Board. President of COTER Commission, European Committee of the Regions, Rapporteur on Brain Drain in the EU and also on Achieving the European Education Area by 2025 and „European Strategy for Universities”. PhD in Political Science, Associate professor at Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, awarded Honorary Degree of Doctor of Law from Michigan State University in East Lansing, U.S. Former Prime Minister of Romania during 2008-2012, former President of the Democratic Liberal Party during 2005-2012.
Biography
Elisa Gambardella was elected President of the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) in 2023, after two years contributing to the work of the Steering Committee of the LLLP and representing it in the Board of Civil Society Europe. Her home organisation is SOLIDAR Foundation, where she is Education and Lifelong Learning Coordinator since 2020, and that she originally joined as Political Adviser in 2018. Elisa has represented SOLIDAR also as a member of the Civil Society Organisations Convention for the Conference on the Future of Europe, and as a member of the plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Before moving to Brussels, she worked for the Cabinet of the Italian Minister of Labour, where she specialised in active labour market policies for youth employment. Overall, she has 10 years’ experience in public authorities, think-tanks and EU civil society organisations and she holds a master’s degree in European Studies from the Roma Tre University.
Biography
Biography
Domènec Ruiz Devesa has a degree in Law and Economics from the Carlos III University, in Political Science and Sociology from the National University of Distance Education (UNED), a master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, with a specialty in European Studies, and a Diploma in Advanced Studies in Economic Growth and Sustainable Development by UNED. He has been a consultant for several international organizations such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, or the Union for the Mediterranean, as well as international consultant for Oxford Policy Management and Family Health International, and think tanks such as Fundación Alternativas, and Fundación Sistema. He has been an advisor to the Minister of the Presidency (2011), an advisor to the Spanish Socialist Delegation in the European Parliament (2014-2018) and deputy head for Political and Parliamentary Affairs in the cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. In 2019, he was elected Member of the European Parliament, where he is the spokesperson for the Constitutional Affairs Committee for the Socialists and Democrats group and a member of the Culture and Education Committee. He also carries out his parliamentary responsibilities within the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, as well as in the inter-parliamentary delegations with the Republic of Iraq, of which he is Vice-President, beside the delegations of Mashreq and Palestine. He also holds the Presidency of the Union of European Federalist and is a member of the Executive Board of the Spanish Federal Council of the European Movement.
Biography
Master in Education and Society, with Dissertation on Citizenship Education. Degree in Economics. Senior Technician of the Directorate-General for Education – Ministry of Education (Direção-Geral da Educação – Ministério da Educação), working in Citizenship Education. Representative of the Directorate-General for Education/Ministry of Education in: Working Group on ‘Schools: Learning for sustainability’ – European Commission (Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture); GENE – Global Education Network Europe. At the national level, representative of the Directorate-General for Education – Ministry of Education in the National Strategy for Development Education Monitoring Commission. In-service teacher trainer in the field of Citizenship Education, with experience at national and European level.
Biography
Louisa Slavkova is a political scientist and author with extensive experience in foreign policy, democracy development and civic education. Louisa has held various positions throughout her career, including a visiting fellow at Columbia University, programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to Bulgaria’s former foreign and climate ministers. In 2013, she founded the Sofia Platform Foundation, a non-governmental organization focused on civic education and dealing with the legacy of Bulgaria’s communist past. She is the co-author of two textbooks on civic education in Bulgaria and has authored and edited several books and publications on foreign policy, democracy, and civic education. In 2021, Louisa co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now serves as one of its three managing partners, overseeing operations in Sofia. She is also a civics course instructor at New Bulgarian University and a frequent contributor to Bulgarian and international outlets on democracy in Bulgaria and the region.
Biography
Onno Hansen-Staszynski is an innovator in (media) education, tackling disinformation, and digital identities. As chairman of the Ezzev Foundation, co-founder and teacher trainer at the Dynamic Identity Academy (adT), co-initiator and partner of numerous European and Polish projects, and part-time teacher at the Polish public high school ZSO nr 5 in Gdańsk, Onno and his wife Beata Staszyńska-Hansen pilot, implement and teach a blend of media education, prophylactics, participation, and media creation. Their main target group is adolescents, and their teachers and parents. Onno is a member of the Commission Expert Group on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education and training and of various other European, Dutch, and Polish expert groups. He is the co-initiator and ghostwriter of the Commission Pilot Project PPPA-AGEVER-01-2020, of which the follow-up initiative was a pillar of the Commission BIK+ strategy. He is an advisor to DROG, specialists in tackling disinformation, and to Schluss, the digital vault giving people full control over their data. In addition, Onno is an independent filmmaker, a blogger, a former journalist, a former corporate, and a former artist.
Biography
Gyula Cserey is Head of Unit for Strategy and Investments in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC). His unit is the lead service for driving the implementation of the EU education flagship, the European Education Area that is meant to be achieved by 2025. Before moving to DG EAC in 2018, Gyula has spent more than 10 years in other Commission departments and EU institutions covering competition, external affairs and labour market policies. He holds a doctorate in law and political sciences.
Biography
Biography
Jenni Decandia works as an education coordinator and English teacher at Oriveden yhteiskoulu, a school which has been granted the eTwinning School label, and she is a Finnish eTwinning Ambassador. Jenni has been awarded several national and European eTwinning quality labels and a national eTwinning prize. In her role as education coordinator in Orivesi, Jenni is responsible for developing and implementing innovative educational programs and initiatives. She also works closely with teachers to support their professional development. Jenni is passionate about the power of eTwinning to connect students with different cultures and perspectives, and she believes that eTwinning is a valuable tool for promoting European citizenship.