We are the voice of non-formal adult education in Europe

Over the past few years, there have been several initiatives by national and regional governments in EU countries to change the taxation of adult education. The exemption of non-formal adult education from the value-added tax is particularly controversial – as it is often argued by politicians that non-formal adult education is ‘leisure-time entertainment’ and is therefore not an activity in the public interest.

The new European Parliament and the new European Commission have started their work on the new portfolios in the second half of 2019. The European Union will have to take a clear direction on issues such as sustainability, democracy, and demographic changes. An EAEA working group explored these issues. The results were published in a background paper in December 2019.

A new policy paper, published in December, concludes EAEA’s thematic work on life skills in 2019. It outlines the key principles of a life skills approach and its potential for increasing participation levels, and offers a set of recommendations.