Olena Lokshyna
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5097-9171
PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN EDUCATION AREA: RESULTS OF THE INTERIM EVALUATION
Full text (pdf)
Language: Ukrainian
Abstract. The paper substantiates the relevance of studying the integration of the Ukrainian education system into the European Education Area in the context of Ukraine’s obtaining EU candidate status in 2022 and the beginning of harmonisation of the national legal system with the “acquis communautaire”. The purpose of the article is to analyse the progress in the development of the European Education Area, which is proclaimed as the goal of European cooperation in the document “Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training towards a European Education Area and Beyond (2021-2030)”. The main attention is paid to understanding the concept of the Strategic Framework as a governance tool used by the EU to manage this cooperation by defining its goals and strategies for achieving them. To achieve the stated aim, the method of analysing key EU documents regulating the legal framework and determining the directions of educational cooperation was applied. The analysis of monographic studies has enabled an understanding of the nature of the academic discourse on the outlined issue. The paper reveals the positive trends demonstrated by national education systems on the path towards building the European Education Area, even in the face of unpredictable challenges. It is stated that the effectiveness of the current Strategic Framework is ensured by its format as an integral system that encompasses the multiplicity of its components in the unity of policy objectives with specific time frames, mechanisms for governing this cooperation, and a set of indicators, monitoring and evaluation tools, which strengthen accountability for common priorities. A list of its innovative characteristics is formulated, including time structuring, measurability, transparency, adaptability, vertical integration, and horizontal synergy. The conclusion is drawn regarding the relevance of harmonising the development priorities of Ukrainian education with the European ones defined in the Strategic Framework, as well as the need for further research into its conceptual guidelines, principles, and operational practices from the perspective of achievements, challenges, and adaptation to national realities.
Keywords: Ukraine, EU, education and training, European Cooperation Strategy, European Education Area, governance framework, monitoring, effectiveness.
https://doi.org/10.32987/2617-8532-2025-3-94-106
Keywords: Ukraine, EU, education and training, European Cooperation Strategy, European Education Area, governance framework, monitoring, effectiveness.
https://doi.org/10.32987/2617-8532-2025-3-94-106
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2. Publications Office of the European Union. (2025). Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/accession-criteria-copenhagen-criteria.html.
3. EUR-Lex. (2008). Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – Part Three: Union Policies and Internal Actions – Title XII: education, vocational training, youth and sport – Article 165 (ex Article 149 TEC). Official Journal, 115, 120-121. Retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/eli/treaty/tfeu_2008/art_165/oj.
4. Publications Office of the European Union. (2017). Open method of coordination. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/open-method-of-coordination.html.
5. European Parliament. (2000). Presidency Conclusions: Lisbon European Council 23 and 24 March 2000. Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/lis1_en.htm.
6. Publications Office of the European Union. (2021). Concrete future objectives of education systems. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/concrete-future-objectives-of-education-systems.html.
7. Council of the European Union. (2009). Council conclusions of 12 May 2009 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=oj:JOC_2009_119_R_0002_01.
8. Council of the European Union. (2021). Council Resolution on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021–2030). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=oj:JOC_2021_066_R_0001.
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10. Diez, T., & Wiener, A. (2018). Introducing the Mosaic of Integration Theory. KFG Working Paper Series, 88. Retrieved from https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en/v/transformeurope/publications/working_paper/wp/wp88/WP_88_Diez_Wiener_Druck-und-Web.pdf.
11. Cino Pagliarello, M. (2020). Integration theories and European education policy: bringing the role of ideas back. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 16(3), 320-338. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30950/jcer.v16i3.1088.
12. Schmidt, V. A. (2024). Theorising European integration: the four phases since Ernst Haas’ original contribution. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(10), 3346-3371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2337273.
13. Segers, M. (2023). The origins of European integration. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009379380.
14. Ruppen Coutaz, R., & Paoli, S. (Eds.). (2024). Building Europe Through Education, Building Education Through Europe: Actors, Spaces and Pedagogies in a Historical Perspective. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003247838.
15. Schütze, R. (2025). “Integration-through-Law”: grand theory, revisionist history. European Law Open, 4(2), 162-200. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/elo.2025.15.
16. Eeva, K. (2021). Governing through consensus? The European Semester, soft power and education governance in the EU. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), 178-197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041211055601.
17. Heriard, P., Prutsch, M., & Thoenes, S. (2021). Making the European Education Area a reality: state of affairs, challenges and prospects. European Parliament, Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies, Brussels. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14830.95042.
18. Gain, V. (2023). Informality as a resource: A systems-theoretical take on the open method of coordination in education. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), 198-214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041231168952.
19. Sorensen, T. B., & Eeva, K. (2024). Re-articulating the form of the political: Contemporary education governance in the European Union. Introduction to the Special Issue. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), 165-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041241231021.
20. Stevenson, H. (2024). Europeanizing Europe’s education policy. In Building Europe Through Education, Building Education Through Europe (pp. 206-221). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003247838-13.
21. Lokshyna, O. (2022). 2021-2030 European Cooperation Strategy in the Field of Education and Training in as a European Integration Benchmark for Ukrainian Education. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 4, 5-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2022-4-5-17 [in Ukrainian].
22. Lokshyna, O., Sysoieva, S., Borysenko, I., Voronina-Pryhodii, D., Hlushko, O., Dzhurylo, A., … & Shparyk, O. (2025). Integration processes in the area of education in the European Union: strategic priorities, essential characteristics and innovative practices. Kyiv. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/978-966-644-804-3-2025-257 [in Ukrainian].
23. Hlushko, O. (2024). Evolution of Ukraine’s European integration in the field of school education. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 4, 18-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2024-4-18-29 [in Ukrainian].
24. Lokshyna, O. (2024). European Educational Area as an integration perspective for Ukrainian education. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 2, 6-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2024-2-6-19 [in Ukrainian].
25. Topuzov, O., Lokshyna, O., Dzhurylo, A., & Shparyk, O. (2023). The European Research Area as a benchmark for the development of education and science in Ukraine. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 4, 5-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2023-4-5-19 [in Ukrainian].
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27. Voronina-Pryhodii, D. (2024). Integration processes in European Union secondary education: progress in achieving the indicators of the European Education Area. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 4, 41-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2024-4-41-56 [in Ukrainian].
28. Shparyk, O. (2024). Integration of educational school systems within the European Union: current trends. Ukrainian Educational Journal, 3, 41–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32405/2411-1317-2024-3-41-51 [in Ukrainian].
29. Rashkevych, Yu., & Semigina, T. (2025). European integration in vocational education: imperatives for Ukraine. Educational Analytics of Ukraine, 1(33), 43-57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32987/2617-8532-2025-1-43-57 [in Ukrainian].
30. Council of the European Union. (2021). Council Resolution on the governance structure of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021–2030). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32021G1210%2801%29.
31. Publications Office of the European Union. (2023). Education and training monitor 2023 – Comparative report. DOI: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/810689.
32. Publications Office of the European Union. (2024). Education and training monitor 2024 – Comparative report. DOI: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/815875.
33. European Commission. (2022). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on progress towards the achievement of the European Education Area. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022DC0700.