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Suomen Ylioppilaskuntien Liitto SYL ry

SYL

SYL, i.e.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Mar 2024 · Ajankohtaisaiheet

Meeting with Ville Niinistö (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Mar 2024 · Education, research, youth

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament) and Finnish Energy - Energiateollisuus ry

26 Oct 2023 · Topical issues

Meeting with Sirpa Pietikäinen (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Oct 2023 · Education policies, Erasmus+ programme

Meeting with Ville Niinistö (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Oct 2023 · Current topics of education policy

Meeting with Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Oct 2023 · University policy and EU advocacy

Meeting with Alviina Alametsä (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Oct 2023 · University Students in Finland exchange of views

Meeting with Henna Virkkunen (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Jun 2022 · EU Higher Education Package

Meeting with Arto Virtanen (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen), Olai Voionmaa (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen)

22 Jun 2022 · Higher education, the European Year of Youth

Meeting with Petri Sarvamaa (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Jun 2022 · EU Education policy

Meeting with Nils Torvalds (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Jun 2022 · Education

Response to Achieving the European Education Area

26 Aug 2020

With the ambitious goal of making the European Education Area (EEA) reality by 2025, SYL emphasizes the need to include all stakeholders equally in the process. We appreciate the mention of cooperation with "Member States and stakeholders" to achieve the EEA and we remind the Commission that this includes students, who have student unions and organizations to represent them. Students are to be included in all processes, as they can accurately report the accessibility and efficiency of the different projects under the EEA. This is especially important when developing digital solutions to mobility and engagement. With the impact of COVID-19 on physical mobility, it is more important than ever to digitize education and improve Europeans' basic digital skills. However, this is dependent on accessibility of technology and government funding. Moreover, digitization is not to extinguish physical mobility in the future, as digital mobility is limited in terms of democratic and cultural education of physical mobility. SYL hopes to see the overall digital skills level to improve with such initiatives to mainstream as Erasmus Without Paper and Academic ID. However, SYL remains critical of the necessity of a European Student Card. The roadmap states the implementation of EEA "will be supported by the Erasmus Programme and EU funds and instruments." As the representative of university students in Finland, we expect the funding of European Universities Alliance to also come from Horizon Europe, as the alliances include research cooperation. For Europe to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic successfully both socially and financially, the EU Member States need education, research and innovation. These can only be accessed through adequate funding. The Erasmus programme was created for higher education students and it has be dubbed the most successful project of the EU. As such, Erasmus funding should go towards the mobility of students and teachers, while Horizon Europe enables researchers' mobility and cooperation. SYL is wary of the ambitious timeline of the European Education Area, especially considering the impact of COVID-19 to universities' finances and student mobility. We hope to see a realistic approach to the roadmap, once that includes all stakeholders and is not rushed at the expense of students.
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