2007. vol. 2. No. 1

The paper presents an overview of the main developments in the education policy in the EU over the period. The author posits that education policy issues remained high on the agenda of the operational programme both within the Austrian and the Finnish presidency of the EU. The author concludes on the basis of the analyses that the objectives “Education and Training 2010” objectives for the period have been met. The paper argues that the OMC governance framework is effective for the sphere of education, as well as “a step by step” approach ensuring implementation of the long-term objectives through concrete technical, normative, methodological measures and documents.

The paper presents evaluation of the Finnish presidency in the EU in the period of June to December 2006. The assessment is carried out on the basis of the demand – supply model developed by Schout A. and Vanhoonacker S. in “Evaluating Presidencies of the Council of the EU: Revisiting Nice”. The author concludes that the Finnish presidency in the EU, though lacking grand political breakthroughs, was successful on most priorities. The Presidency competency in bridging the demand and supply played a major role for achieving the outcomes.