Debat met Hongaarse staatssecretaris over cultuur en onderwijs in Europees Parlement (en)

“There is a need to improve standards in training and quality in education,” stated Miklós Soltész, State Secretary for Social, Family, and Youth Affairs of the Ministry for National Resources, before the EP’s Cultural and Education Committee.

Mr Soltész emphasised the huge problem posed by the current employment of twenty percent of young people in the European Union. For this reason, it is a priority for the Hungarian Presidency to raise the level of youth employment. To this end, the Presidency supports the Commission’s “Youth on the Move” flagship initiative to assist youth in training through the development and popularisation of higher education. Mr Soltész stressed that the Presidency also attaches great importance to the European Youth Pact, launched as part of the Lisbon Strategy, since it aims to help young people participate in political and social life.

“Regarding policy priorities, the Spanish Presidency focused on social inclusion, the Belgian on youth work, and the Hungarian Presidency will focus on the types of participation and participation itself.” said Mr Soltész, and he reminded MEPs the Hungarian Presidency took office at the same time as the European Year of Volunteering began. The politician stressed that volunteering has longer tradition in Western Europe than in Eastern Europe. However, in order for the European Year of Volunteering to achieve its goals, all European countries need to be involved. Mr Soltész mentioned that the Hungarian Presidency wants to have a Council resolution on volunteering.