One of the five core goals of the “Europe 2020” strategy of the European Union for intelligent, sustainable and integrative growth is to improve the level of education. An EU-wide core goal has been set out with the dual objective of lowering the share of premature school-leavers and increasing the share of graduates with a tertiary or comparable qualification. Reports on the implementation are made annually through the National Reform Programme. Moreover, the 'Strategic framework for cooperation in education and training' (ET 2030) focuses attention on the major challenges facing European education systems and highlights the areas that need to be improved.