Britain may be exiting the European Union, but the project is pushing ahead - and a new report reveals that common education standards are widely seen as key to its future.
The Future of Europe report, published last month by the European Commission, includes results of a survey of more than 27,000 people conducted in September and October across the EU’s 28 member states. It found that more than a third (35 per cent) think that “comparable education standards” would be one of the most helpful for the future of Europe.
Different priorities
The measure was the second-most popular suggestion and finished below “comparable living standards” (53 per cent), but above “well-defined external borders of the EU” (26 per cent). Meanwhile, only 21 per cent think that an economic government for the EU would be most helpful for its future.
Disparities between respondents’ views on education were evident between member states. In Sweden, Spain and Malta, a comparable level of education was seen as the most important issue for the future of the EU and was cited by 62, 61 and 56 per cent of respondents respectively. That compares with 39 per cent in the UK and just 12 per cent in Hungary.
The European average of people citing the importance of comparable education standards has dropped by 4 percentage points since the last survey was carried out in 2012.
