25.02.2015

Commissioner Malmström answers to EAEA’s concerns on TTIP

After hearing rumors suggesting that adult education would be part of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), EAEA wrote to Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström last November, to ask for her support in excluding adult education from TTIP. EAEA believes that adult education is a public good and that it should not be part of any trade agreement.

In her letter, Commissioner Malmström underlines that “the Commission is fully aware of the sensitivity of the education sector and will therefore continue to provide the necessary protection for the sector”. Concerning the investor-state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) in TTIP, the Commissioner highlighted that “neither the European Commission, nor EU Member States or the European Parliament would consider an agreement that would lower our standards or limit our government’s right to regulate.”

EAEA will continue to follow-up the developments of the TTIP negotiations in the upcoming months and advocate for the exclusion of education and public services in general in the TTIP agreement.

Text: EAEAPhotos: EAEA

24.04.2026 Democracy

Digitalisation, skills, and community learning: what’s at stake for adult education in Europe

Europe’s digital transition is reshaping how people work, participate in society, and access services. Yet many adults still lack the basic digital skills needed to benefit from these changes, raising urgent questions for policymakers and adult learning providers alike: how can ALE systems become more inclusive, better funded, and more responsive to learners’ realities?

23.04.2026 access

How do we build trustworthy and transparent adult education registries?

The RALExILA initiative came to an end in late March 2026, with the release of the guidelines and models to support the development of accessible, inclusive and interoperable (digital) ecosystems for adult education and individual learning accounts.

21.04.2026 adult educators

Supporting a culture of quality in the ALE sector

For many educators and policymakers, ‘Quality Assurance’ is linked to strong bureaucratic processes and additional workload, while in our approach Quality Assurance in education is to be seen as a mindful process of continuous improvements.