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Education & Training
How much money goes into Europe’s universities?
Almost a decade has passed since the financial crisis broke out, but universities across Europe are still feeling the pinch.
Erasmus+ struggling to attract apprentices
Est. 4minThree million students have studied abroad with Erasmus+, but only 5,000 apprentices have taken part in the exchange. France and Germany are joining forces to increase the programme’s uptake. EURACTIV France reports.
MEPs demand urgent VAT reduction for e-books
Est. 4minMembers of the European Parliament have asked the Commission to take urgent action to align VAT rates for electronic books and press with those applied to paper publications. But no reform will take place before 2016. EURACTIV France reports.
Commission threatens to loot Erasmus budget to finance Juncker Plan
Est. 5minThe European Parliament refuses to take funds from existing investment programmes to finance the Juncker Plan. The choice could jeopardise the future of Erasmus and Galileo, according to the Commission. EURACTIV France reports.
EU court ruling on e-books opens VAT Pandora’s Box
Est. 5minA ruling this month by the EU's top court on e-books taxation in France and Luxembourg has forced the European Commission to embark on a tricky reform of European VAT rules. EURACTIV France reports.
European universities to be included in UK application process
Est. 3minUK students will for the first time be able to apply for European universities through the UK’s centralised application channel, UCAS.
France promises aid for job training in Africa
Est. 3minFrance announced the creation of a foundation for professional training in Africa at the French-African forum held in Paris on 6 February, to help deal with one of the biggest issues threatening the continent's future economic development. EURACTIV France reports.
Heavy metal Brussels: The 2014 European Union Prize for Literature award ceremony
Est. 5minSPECIAL REPORT: ‘Anal Cunt’ isn’t an everyday sort of band name. Even in underground metal circles, it still inspires a pause, despite the fact that the defunct American grindcore group got its start in 1988. That didn’t stop its display, on a large video screen, at the 2014 European Union Prize for Literature award ceremony, from being a big surprise.
Europe struggles with digital education
Est. 3minEuropean higher education remains too conservative to adapt to technological innovations, said a Commission High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education in its report published last week (22 October).
![[Daniel Grosvenor/Flickr]](https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/10/copyright_creditdaniel_grosvenor_flickr.jpeg)
Piracy, the quiet killer of the EU’s cultural industries
Est. 3minThe European creative economy shrank between 2008 and 2011 due to inadequate measures to combat piracy. EURACTIV France reports.
Books that bind Europe together: This year’s EU Literature Prize
Est. 5minSPECIAL REPORT: Can a majority Muslim state, on Europe’s southernmost periphery, be considered not just European, but even worthy of an EU prize for literature?
![CREDIT[Martin_Abgglen_Flickr]](https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/09/bern_switzerland_snow_mountains_creditmartin_abgglen_flickr.jpeg)
The formal cooling of EU-Swiss relations
Est. 6minThe EU has this summer refused Switzerland's request to renegotiate a bilateral treaty on free movement after Swiss voters chose to close the country's borders to Croatian workers. As a result, the Erasmus programme will be interrupted, penalising European students, and the proposed interconnection of the electricity market will not get off the ground.
EU’s celebrated Erasmus student grant scheme breaks new record
Est. 2minNearly 270,000 students received EU grants to study or train abroad in 2012-2013, setting a new record, according to new data from the European Commission.
Europe’s debate over internships continues
Est. 4minMember states recently backed a European Commission initiative to safeguard interns from exploitation, but the move has been criticised by trade unions and youth groups.
Merkel cabinet agrees on €8.50 minimum wage
Est. 5minAlmost all EU member states already have a legal minimum wage covering all sectors. After a decision in Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday (2 April), the German government plans to join them, introducing an € 8.50 national wage floor. EURACTIV Germany reports.
The world’s failing grades on universal education
In 2000, the world set six education targets to be met by the end of next year. But despite advances over the past decade, "not a single goal will be achieved globally by 2015," according to a Unesco Global Monitoring Report.
Reform of European schools: parents welcome ‘first victory’
Est. 3minThe board of governors of the European schools, used by EU officials, on Wednesday (4 December) decided to postpone further reforms to the secondary curriculum, following complaints of parents’ organisations that the changes aimed for cost-cutting, not better education.
European schools clash with parents over long-awaited reforms
Est. 5minThe board of governors of the European Schools will adopt a reform of the secondary curriculum later this week (4-6 December), hoping to overcome some of the academic and financial troubles, but parents slam the reform as being cost-cutting driven.
Erasmus+ wants to reach beyond university students
Est. 3minA new and updated version of the European exchange programme will be accessible to more people and receive a 40% budget increase. EURACTIV France reports.
Pay companies to hire youth, OECD suggests
Est. 3minThe plight of youth unemployment in developed economies is so severe it has prompted the OECD to call for more government intervention, possibly including paying companies to hire young people.
Experts warn of university rankings bias as EU prepares new table
Est. 7minTo boost the global standing of EU universities, the European Commission has pegged in its higher education strategy a new form of university listing, which analysts say may overturn the US “elite” bias of current commercial rankings.
Erasmus student programme sets record
Est. 3minThe EU’s top education official, Androulla Vassiliou, has called for a revamped Erasmus student exchange programme to place more emphasis on youth employability in the coming years, as the European Commission reveals a record 253,000 students took part in the programme last year.
BASF’s university job sparks green fury over biased science
Est. 5minThe Pesticide Action Network has accused the German chemicals company BASF of buying credibility for industry views within academia, after one of its employee was offered a professorship at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.