On 27 January EFIL attended the EUCIS-LLL General Assembly which was focused on the revision of membership fee with the objective of reaching more independency from EU funding. Considering the considerable raise of membership fees, EFIL is passing from full member to associate member.
In 2015 EUCIS-LLL will organise a Policy Debate on “Intergenerational learning for inclusive societies” at the end of March and a Policy debate on recognition of volunteers’ competences during the European Youth week at the beginning of May. EFIL will keep being involved in the Validation task force.
EUCIS-LLL is also engaged in raising attention to education among EU leaders. When on 12 February, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the EU’s counter-terrorism measures in the wake of the attacks in Paris, EUCIS-LLL acknowledged the fact that security and anti-terrorist measures represent only a part of the solution, and suggested EU institutions and EU leaders to prioritise civic education and diversity in its education and training cooperation, in order to provide a long-term, sustainable response.
EUCIS-LLL states ‘As the state of democracy in Europe is threatened by the widespread rise of far-right, nationalist and xenophobic parties we need to make democratic values alive. Not only should we foster tolerance, solidarity and intercultural understanding, but also empower (particularly) young people to be active citizens. Despite EU cooperation in education and training has so far mainly focused on the employability aspect, we should not forget the social and civic dimension of education.’
Therefore EUCIS-LLL proposes that civic education and diversity, including intercultural and interreligious dialogue, become priority areas of EU cooperation in education and training.
For the full EUCIS-LLL press release, click here.
For more info elisa.briga@afs.org