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Doc. 11054
3 October 2006
The OECD and the world economy
Contribution
Committee on Culture, Science and Education
Rapporteur: Baroness
Hooper, United Kingdom, European Democrat Group
Amendment – to insert after paragraph 10 in the draft resolution (Doc 11012 prov) the following text:
Quality of life is more than financial prosperity and the price of humanity more than a pay cheque. In an increasingly interdependant world it is important to maintain a cultural focus and ensure that educational processes are adjusted to living as well as earning a living. For this reason the Enlarged Assembly continues to insist on the complementarity of the work of OECD with other more culturally oriented organisations such as the Council of Europe. It looks forward with interest therefore to the contribution of OECD to the overview of European cooperation that will be made by the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education when it meets next in Istanbul in May 2007.
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Explanatory memorandum
1. In its past contributions to the debate on the activities of OECD the Committee on Culture, Science and Education has repeatedly stressed the need for coordination with the Council of Europe’s activities in the field of education (and more recently also of culture). We have sought complementarity between the economy-driven approach of OECD and the socio-cultural dimension of the Council of Europe. The value of the statistical information assembled by OECD is widely acknowledged. The sensitivity of the Council of Europe’s approach to social cohesion, democratic principle and quality of life is likewise appreciated.
2. This point has to be repeated as OECD failed to respond to last year’s Resolution 1467 para 15 which called on the OECD and the Council of Europe to co-ordinate their action on mutually identified priority areas in the field of education policy.
3. The need for coordination is made more urgent by the increasing globalisation of policy making. This process includes culture (in its broadest sense). Education policies cannot ignore immigration. Cultural issues such as religion and religious education are connected with security. With music, sport, literature and tourism, the cultural sector is of considerable economic importance. But it should be driven by cultural objectives as well as economic.
4. The process of globalisation is also wider than Europe (and the Council of Europe has a vital role as it represents 46 countries of the wider Europe and includes all member countries of the European Union). The Council of Europe has the instrument of the North-South Centre, but this needs wider support. It is most important that the Council of Europe cooperates with wider governmental international partners such as Unesco, the World Bank and OECD and that it should strengthen and develop such co-operation. The Assembly has stressed this in the past. Both the intergovernmental side of the Council of Europe (DG IV) and the Committee on Culture, Science and Education should pursue this up more actively.
5. Formal contacts with OECD exist already. It is important that the two organisations are effectively represented in the respective structures that determine policy and direct projects. The need for better coordination at national level must also be repeatedly underlined as for other organisations. It remains the case that the Assembly is and is recognised as being the parliamentary forum for OECD. This is unfortunately not established for Unesco on which IPU has a claim.
6. The next session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education in Istanbul in May 2007 will be a good occasion on which to test the capacity of the Standing Conference to conduct an overview of European cooperation. This is a position defended in the past by the Assembly. It needs reasserting now. It is only if some degree of concertation is brought to European cultural cooperation that we can expect to mount a clear appeal for funding from our national capitals and a more appropriate share of the Council of Europe budget.
7. As for cooperation with OECD, there are certainly many subjects that can benefit from a coordinated approach. Mentioned recently are the areas of student assessment and the broadening of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and higher education where it would be interesting to know how OECD might most usefully interact with the Bologna Process for a common area for higher education in Europe. These are fields of intergovernmental cooperation.
8. It will also be interesting to identify more directly with OECD certain subjects of political and economic relevance that the Committee on Culture, Science and Education might take up for debate in the Assembly.
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Reporting Committee: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 11012 prov.)
Committee for contribution: Committee on Culture, Science and Education
Reference to committee: Standing mandate
Contribution adopted by the Committee on 2 October 2006
Head of Secretariat: Mr Grayson
Secretaries to the Committee: Mr Ary, Mr Dossow