564th Plenary session 20-21 October 2021 - Related Opinions

The EESC welcomes the proposal's intention to implement the EPSR and other EU initiatives aimed at making quality and inclusive education a reality within the green and digital transitions. The EESC calls on Member States to ensure that blended learning is not detrimental to the social value of education or to the relevance of face-to-face teaching. They need to ensure that blended learning is established to support the quality and inclusion of education, in particular for children in need. The EESC notes that well-developed blended learning needs to be supported by sustainable public investment and should be implemented in curricula with a whole-school approach, taking into consideration the needs of teachers, students and their families.

This opinion deals with the new Strategy for the future of Schengen issued by the European Commission last June. The Strategy is part of a broader effort to update and strengthen Schengen, which also includes a proposal to amend the regulation on the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism. In this opinion, the EESC welcomes the Commission's Strategy towards a fully functioning and resilient Schengen area and reaffirms its full support for the principles underlying Schengen cooperation. Nevertheless the opinion also advances some concerns, such as: reports of fundamental rights violations at the EU's external borders; the semi-permanent reintroduction of border controls at parts of Member States internal borders and the negative economic and social impact this has had on businesses, and in particular frontier workers, border communities and Euroregions.