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Conclusions
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I will give a rather narrow interpretation of my title Lifelong Learning the Way Ahead and concentrate simply on the future of the new programmes in the field of education, training and youth. The Austrian presidency will have an important role in the process of adopting those programmes. This conference has been a major event of the United Kingdom presidency of the European Union. It was, in the best sense of the word, a non-standard conference. I do not mean that it was not professional, quite the contrary, but that it was more understandable and closer to the public than most of the conferences we had during other presidencies. For this congratulations to the United Kingdom presidency and in particular to those who have organised it. What is the way ahead? What can be done and what is possible on the European level? You know the constraints and we cannot do everything but there are instruments. The idea in preparing the next generation of programmes has been to have a common view of the future and to overcome the divide between programmes, between organisational units and so on. This was done in the communication prepared by the Commission under the title To a Europe of Knowledge. That discussion has ended and now they are close to presenting three programmes in the area of education, training and youth. At this very moment the cabinet in Brussels is meeting hopefully for the last time before proceeding to the final decision at the level of the Commission. This most likely will be take place on the 27th of May in order to be able to give a first presentation of those programmes on the 4th of June during joint Council on Education and Social Affairs. When preparing the three programmes we tried in these areas to be as parallel as possible in order to prepare for joint ventures. There is a specific article in all three programmes called joint actions that will allow for co-operation that did not take place in the past. We hope that the discussions we have had on the three programmes with representatives of member states and with the members of the parliament have resulted in an instrument which will allow lifelong learning to permeate all areas of society. Language I have one remark specifically about language and how the use of language is sometimes rather restricting our ideas. 'Exclusion' was the term we used at the Commission, while the British UK presidency preferred 'inclusion, which is much better. However by using these terms, we have already accepted the division of society into two parts. Yet there are groups which can not be easily put into one camp or the other. Take for instance those who have not yet lost their job, but are in constant danger of unemployment and falling from inclusion to exclusion. They too must profit from an intelligent lifelong learning policy and we should keep that in mind right from the beginning. The former Swedish Minster for Labour who is now the Director General for Social Affairs really makes it an objective of all his endeavours to think in those terms of helping those in danger of falling not to drop out. This positive attitude should permeate all our thinking. In thinking in terms of inclusion and exclusion, we should not forget the groups that are in between. What we are really aiming at is cohesion in the society. If at all possible let us not think in terms of dividing society but in terms of bringing it together. I read an article in the newspaper today, and it was about a group that was not really covered in the plenary sessions. It was about the third age, and the article really gave you a good feeling. However, lifelong learning does often not include this group which is not a minor group, but a large one. When we talk about citizenship let us provide and let us offer them possibilities in our comprehensive and larger lifelong learning policy. We should not forget these people but include them too. Lifelong learning is for everyone. There is an important link between employability and lifelong learning but this is not the whole story.
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