The EU policies about what to achieve and how to achieve through the education and training of adults have developed like norms for the EU member states which they find difficult to flout. With the declaration to achieve the European Education Area (EEA) by 2025 and its targets by 2025 and 2030, the EU has laid down a framework for developing the…

The adoption of the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 marked the beginning of a European (adult) education policy defined by common goals, implementation tools and financial resources. Adult education (AE) policy is exercised in the form of "soft law" and supported by various governance mechanisms and policy instruments, such as funding schemes.…

More and more young people are raising their voices for issues that are important to their communities and their generation. However, research suggests that young people perceive a lack of opportunity to influence decisions and policy makers. This can generate concern and, in some cases, anxiety as many feel unable to address issues such as…

This article focus on what is and isn't 'new' in the most recent European Union (EU) key policy document for Adult Learning (AL), because it claims (in its own title) that it will constitute a basis for a 'new' agenda. As this document has been much disseminated to Member States, we think it is important to analyse its evidence of the 'new'…

This article applies system theory to the analysis of the relationship between the EU and candidate country Serbia, with a focus on adult education policy. The study explores how the peripheral status of Serbia with its hybrid political regime combining autocratic and democratic features leads to the hybridisation of its adult education system,…

This article explores underlying mechanisms triggering a change in conceptualization of innovation in the European Union (EU), the impact of this change on institutional demands upon European universities and implications for evaluation procedures. We mobilize the theoretical concept of critical junctures to explore significant periods that have…

For about 30 years, the European Union has been politically active in the field of Education and Training with a broad set of aims, measures and tools. All member states were involved in these politics, creating a kind of European profile. Adult education was an important pillar. A number of adult educators involved in various organisations at…

This chapter aims to present the development of education in the South-East European (SEE) countries, which took place under strong influence of the European Union (EU) education policy. This is examined irrespective of the different relationships these countries have with the EU. Some of these are Member States, and others are candidate or…

In 2017, Finland began levying tuition fees on non-European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) international students. Using data from multiple Finnish government sources, we study the impact of tuition fee reform at various stages of the higher education enrollment selection process. Outcomes examined include how the policy change affects…

This paper discusses the workings of the European Semester (ES) in relation to the policy field of education. My study shows how the ES enables the steering of education policy through encouraging specific economic and employment-related actions by European Union (EU) member states. With a focus on the relationship between the EU institutions and…

This Policy Note reveals a lack of understanding among employers of the post-study working rights of international students in the UK, even though the Graduate Route visa could provide the answer to many current skills shortages. The Graduate Route visa was introduced in 2021 and allows international students to stay in the UK to work for two…

In 2017, the European Union (EU) initiated the development of the European Education Area (EEA). The referentiality approach frames an original and timely inquiry into how EU policymakers explain the reasons for the development of the EEA. This inquiry relies on thematic analysis of relevant key policy materials, produced by the European…

This paper introduces a novel four-dimensional analytical framework to examine how universities are positioned within national artificial intelligence strategies amid intensifying geopolitical competition. Through systematic document analysis of policy frameworks across eight major global actors--the United Kingdom, Russia, India, the European…

Mainland China's domestic academic literature on foreign issues can be regarded as a reference for its policymaking since the early stages of the "Reform and Opening Up". This investigation constructs a multi-theoretical framework for examining and interpreting mainland China's domestic academic narrative surrounding higher education…

Concerned with European Union (EU) governance of teachers since the mid-2000s, this paper makes an empirical as well as theoretical contribution to education policy studies in the context of EU governance. Drawing on neo-institutional field theory and an empirical material of policy documents and interviews, the paper analyses the consolidation…