Education and training have a prominent place in the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. A headline target has been set for education which specifies twin goals on early school leaving and higher education attainment, while under the European semester of economic governance, the key messages of the 2017 Annual Growth Survey (AGS) as well as the Country-specific Recommendations have strong links with education and training. Moreover, the ‘Strategic framework for cooperation in education and training until 2020’ (ET 2020) and the ‘Rethinking education’ strategy focus attention on the major challenges facing European education systems, and highlight the areas that need to be improved.

For information on reforms in the EU Member States that are explicitly linked to the Europe 2020 Strategy see the 2017 National reform programmes.