Towards the end of last (the last) century, political and economic developments in the international context triggered the signing of the Treaty of the European Union (EU). On the threshold of the new millennium, awareness of the cost of “non-Europe” called for widening of cooperation beyond the economic field, promoting policies on Lifelong Learning (LLL) as a means to ensure advancement towards economic prosperity and social stability in the member states. The present paper, through thorough review of policy papers, draws on EU policies on LLL. Adopting an interpretative approach, it seeks to define trends and detect interrelations between EU education policy and developments in the context of European enlargement and integration, as well as global socio-economic developments. EU rhetoric consistently highlights the socio-economic value of LLL, referring to multifarious benefits generated by investment in knowledge, which is considered to play redistributive, stabilizing, and developmental roles in the knowledge economy.
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In-Text Citation: (Panitsides, 2013)
To Cite this Article: Panitsides, E. A. (2013). European Union & Lifelong Learning: In between Economic Development and Social Cohesion. Multilingual Academic Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 1(1), 119–133.
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Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
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