The conference was opened by Bergdis Ellertsdottir, Deputy Secretary General of the EFTA Secretariat. She pointed out that with its use of soft-law instruments; the OMC poses a challenge for the EEA EFTA countries. The EEA agreement does not provide us with mechanisms for participation. However, she also pointed out that it provides us with opportunities and this became evidently clear with the presentations of the participants.
Gordon Clark, Head of Unit with the European Commission kicked off the first part of the seminar. Focusing on past achievements and future goals, he gave an insightful presentation of the role of the OMC within the Lifelong Learning agenda. Though the OMC basis itself on voluntary participation, a lot has been achieved, and the member states are committed for the future.
An academic input was provided by Åse Gornitzka, a researcher with ARENA – Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. Going against the beliefs of what she named “the OMC-pessimists” she showed how the OMC had in fact yielded results within the field of education and had become an embedded part of the education policies. Using data from Norway, she pointed out that OMC initiatives had impact on the work of the Norwegian Ministry of Research and Education.
This point was later picked up by Solrun Jensdottir from the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. She showed that participation in European Working groups in education had been used to better education and training policies, and that without the OMC the new Icelanding education policy to be adopted in 2008 would be neither as comprehensive or European as it looks today.
The conference also viewed the OMC and education policies were also put in a wider contest. Marius Vahl with the EFTA Secretariat put focus on decision shaping and the challenges faced by the EEA EFTA states following an adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, and a continuation of the Lisbon Strategy following 2010. The treaty introduces wide-ranging institutional reforms, and is likely to effect EEA EFTA and EU relations.
To round off the conference, OMC was debated from a comparative perspective. Though it has become an integral part of educational policies, this differs from the way it has been put to use in other policy fields. Robert Strauss from DG EMPL drew parallels to employment policies, showing that what had started out as a ‘stand-alone’ OMC initiative in the sector had been incorporated into the overall Lisbon Strategy. Irene Handeland from DG EAC pointed out that the OMC initiatives within the field of youth policies had been kept separate from the Lisbon Strategy. She further acknowledged that there had been little involvement by EEA EFTA countries in some of these processes and that in future, EEA EFTA participation would be invited.
A final perspective was given by Ole Jakob Skodvin from the Norwegian Ministry of Research and Education. He pointed out that OMC has been made the key instrument for achieving goals set within this sector. He also pointed out that it has been successful instrument for learning and sharing of information, also for the countries not participating in the Lisbon Strategy.
The conference also provided an arena for the members of the working group to share their experiences with the use of OMC. All four EFTA countries participated and reiterated the importance of OMC initiatives as arenas for learning and for gathering as well as sharing information.
Presentations: