Alegría underlines the crucial role of education in successfully tackling the challenges facing the European Union

"We have a crucial task as a society, and it is the duty of our education systems to improve the skills of citizens, both professionally and personally, to meet major challenges brought by issues like climate change, digital, equality and social cohesion of the Union," stated the Minister.

This is precisely one of the cross-cutting priorities of the Spanish presidency of the European Union, i.e. Open Strategic Autonomy, whose guarantee is closely linked to training citizens, especially in strategic areas, such as energy, sustainability and digitalisation.

In her speech to the Committee, Alegría stressed the essential role of education at a key moment "in European integration, one that can lead us to a stronger, more united, fairer and better prepared Europe" in the face of "the rise of authoritarian leaderships and threats to the model of liberal democracy that the European Union embodies".

In this regard, the Spanish Presidency of the EU is going to promote the approval by the Council of a document containing conclusions on the contribution of education to promoting European values and democratic citizenship, on which work is currently underway. This will be one of the central themes of the Informal Meeting of Education and Youth Ministers, which will take place in Zaragoza on 18 and 19 September.

In order to make progress towards these objectives, as the acting Minister explained to the members of the committee, "the Spanish Presidency supports ambitious development of the European Education Area" and has insisted on a fundamental aspect, "the automatic mutual recognition of qualifications", which will be the subject of debate at the Presidency Conference to be held in Seville in October.

Pilar Alegría also emphasised Spain's commitment to the digital revolution and its impact on education, and reported that the presidency is working on the two dossiers relating to digitalisation proposed by the European Commission.

This priority of the Spanish Presidency also includes the promotion of scientific and technological vocations among girls and young women. This objective, on which the Government of Spain has been working throughout the legislature, will be endorsed with the holding of a world conference in Madrid for an international STEAM Alliance for female talent.

The Minister for Universities, Joan Subirats, and the Minister for Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta, also took part in the committee.

Non official translation