Brussel, 20 April 2025

Changes and opportunities following the newly elected Parliament

The 2024 European elections brought new momentum to EU policy, with a Parliament focused on skills and competitiveness. ECSWE remains engaged, advocating for a more holistic vision of education.

Preparing our members for the 2024 European elections

As part of its 2024 work plan, ECSWE devel­oped a com­pre­hen­sive EU Elec­tion Guide aimed at Stein­er Wal­dorf teach­ers and sec­ondary school stu­dents with vot­ing rights. The guide pro­vid­ed prac­ti­cal infor­ma­tion on why and how to vote in each ECSWE mem­ber coun­try and was pre­pared and dis­sem­i­nat­ed with help from our nation­al rep­re­sen­ta­tives. To sup­port civic par­tic­i­pa­tion, ECSWE trans­lat­ed the guide into 14 Euro­pean lan­guages and launched a social media cam­paign encour­ag­ing vot­er turnout, with­out endors­ing any polit­i­cal par­ty or candidate.

Familiarising with the new Members of European Parliament interested in education

Fol­low­ing the 2024 Euro­pean elec­tions, ECSWE analysed the pro­file and back­ground of Mem­bers of the Euro­pean Parliament’s Com­mit­tee on Cul­ture and Edu­ca­tion (CULT), iden­ti­fy­ing key fig­ures rel­e­vant to edu­ca­tion pol­i­cy. To sup­port this work, ECSWE reached out to its nation­al mem­bers for insights into the CULT MEPs from their coun­tries, focus­ing on their posi­tions, past engage­ment, and oppor­tu­ni­ties for con­tact. In par­al­lel, the Com­mit­tee on Employ­ment and Social Affairs (EMPL) was also mapped to pre­pare for poten­tial col­lab­o­ra­tion on joint files. The results of this exer­cise will help shape ECSWE’s strate­gic advo­ca­cy dur­ing the 2024–2029 leg­isla­tive period.

Supporting the first European Parliament Intergroup dedicated to education

At the begin­ning of every man­date, MEPs can form infor­mal cross-par­ty Inter­groups on pri­or­i­ty issues. For the first time, edu­ca­tion has gained ded­i­cat­ed atten­tion through the Inter­group on the Future of Edu­ca­tion and Skills for Com­pet­i­tive Europe, sup­port­ed by 68 MEPs. The Inte­group is co-chaired by: Nela Reihl (Greens), Vic­tor Negres­cu (S&D), Eleono­ra Meleti (EPP), and Brigitte van den Berg (Renew Europe). From civ­il soci­ety actors, the Inte­group is direct­ly sup­port­ed by the Life­long Learn­ing Plat­form (LLLP), Euro­pean Fed­er­a­tion of Edu­ca­tion Employ­ers (EFEE), and the Schu­mann Asso­ciates Skills Coali­tion. As a mem­ber of this civ­il soci­ety group, ECSWE now has a more direct chan­nel to inter­act and help shape edu­ca­tion poli­cies in the Euro­pean Parliament.

Further reading