Maastricht communique on the future priorities of enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training (VET)

In December 2004, the Education Ministers of 32 European countries and representatives from the European Commission (EC) and the European Training Foundation (ETF) met in Maastricht to take stock of European cooperation in the field of vocational education and training (VET) following the Copenhagen declaration (indexed at TD/IRD 88.258). The intention of the Copenhagen declaration was to: improve the image and attractiveness of VET and learning; achieve high levels of quality and innovation in VET systems; link VET with new labour market requirements resulting from the knowledge society and demographic change; and improve social cohesion and labour market participation. This document sets out the progress made since, and describes the new strategies and priorities of the European countries on education and training for the next two years. Among the priorities are: continuing to set up common reference instruments to accentuate transparency (of the Europass variety); facilitating private and public investment; breathing new life into the role of teachers and trainers; and putting together reliable and relevant statistics. Show less