From An Attachment To Soft Governance

As the largest supranational politics and economic organization in the world at present, European Union plays a decisive role in world political and economic development. Through the way of historical stage dividing, it is helpful to get an overall understanding of the EU education policy, and furthermore, to find the inner mechanism and logic by the analysis and generalization of social background, contents, features and influence of the policy. Meanwhile, it is helpful to Forecast and prospect the future of the EU education policy by summarizing and reflecting on the problems and challenges which the EU is facing currently. Based on two research aims, this paper will be arranged in accordance with the following contents:firstly, how many stages the development course of EU education policy can be divided into? What are the basics of division? Secondly, what’s the main content and characteristic of the education policy of each stage? And how is the influence? What’s more, what are the main factors which may have an influence on the future development of European Union education policy? And what will happen to the European Union education policy?In detail, from the ending of the World War II to the year1957,the main members of European union, such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy, all adopt the policies of strengthening the centre government and local government’s management in education, expanding the scale of higher education and its research function,and giving a priority to the development of professional education and training so as to promote the rapid development of its economy. These education policies on the national level made great influence on the germination and development of the EU education policy. While, the true EU education policy on the super-national level did not come into being, but still was in its incubation period.The signature of the Treaty of Rome in1957marked the real beginning of the EU education policy. From then on to the year1986, the policy experienced a historical change from as a recessive attachment of the economic policy at the very beginning to as an independent dominant domain. Compared with the policies in other fields, the education policy during this period significantly increased in number, though walked in the edge of the whole system of EU policy, and mostly were only documents without being implementing. Despite, as a real existence, the EU education policy helped the member states in the survival of the economic crisis and in the making of their own education policies, and made a good foundation for the further development of itself.From1986to the year2000, the EU education policy began to enter into the center of the policy system of European Union. The contents of the policy has showed its dynamic change in three aspects:first, expand and refine the professional education and training; second, reinforce the cooperation and exchange in higher education field; third, carry out "the European Dimension in education". The features of European Union education policy in this period are also extremely obvious, of which mainly are the objectives of policy focus on political service, the implement transform from "soft" to "hard" and the contents pay close attention to the quality of education. These changes have constantly improved the influence of European Union education policy in this period, and mainly reflected in five aspects:encourage and boost the member states’ educational decision, enhance the competitiveness of the industrialization of European, expand the international influence of European higher education, change the management mode of intercollegiate cooperation among European universities and promote the identity of Europe.In the12years past recently, the overall characteristics of education policy are proceed with comprehensive governance, and specifically manifest in the Europeanization of policy objectives, integratelization of policy contents, and escalation of policy implementing. Because its role as the leader in the process of the integration of Europe is legally questioned, the EU’s governance on the Europe education by its education policy can only be realized within the competence purview of supporting, coordinating or complementary.Thus, the intervention on education of EU is a kind of soft governance. Through carrying forward step by step and improving of lifelong learning policy, the influence of European Union education policy is increasingly expanded, which, on one hand, reflect in the international regional education cooperation field, making European Union education policy a successful reference and leading the theory and practice of regional education cooperation, on the other, European Union education policy has been totally integrated into the member state’s education activities, playing a significant role in promoting the education development of the member state, even the whole Europe.At present, the contents of European Union education policy can be mainly summarized as four aspects:promoting the integration of processional education, deepening the internalization and quality of higher education, highlighting the core competence of basic education, and emphasizing the quality and guarantee of teacher’s education. Due to the problem of aging of population in whole European becoming increasingly prominent, the credibility of European politics continuous declining, sovereign debt crisis and euro crisis erupt simultaneously, and the conflicts between cultural identity and diversity becoming even serious, European Union education policy in the future will move forward in four directions:first, to seek political identification; second, to take both quality and efficiency into consideration; third, to eliminate differences and promote balance; fourth, to drive the comprehensive governance of education with the lifelong learning plan.In summary, through a56-year development from the formal start, the value of the education policy in the whole policy system of EU is recognized and strengthened gradually. And the role has been greatly changed from an attachment of economic policy to an independent soft governance instrument which is committed to the construction of European educational integration currently. For the present crisis and challenges, in the future, the EU education policy will still maintain such state of soft governance, and will make some adjustments in its goals, contents and implementing so as to adapt to these crisis and challenges. Therefore, the importance of this study performs in two ways. One is its theoretical value:it may change the reality that in the relevant research of EU education policy, the total description is abundant but the historical observation is lack, the introduction to the contents is rich but the thinking on the correlativity is thin. And it also offers an example for historical interpretation in the aspect of research method. The other is its practical significance:it supplys an model in regional research, especially in the regional education policy research,apart from providing basis,comparison and reference to the problem solving in the implementing of education policy in China.