EDUCATION : STUDENTS FEEL FROZEN OUT OF INNOVATION STRATEGY.

• Position: Brief article

The EU's leaders must put their money where their mouths are when it comes to investing in education, according to the European Students' Union (ESU). The NGO had called on the Union's heads of state and government to make substantial investments in access to higher education so as to effectuate goals set for innovation and research within the Europe 2020' strategy. Innovation, alongside energy, was one of the topics at the special European Council, on 4 February. Leaders, however, only turned to innovation after lunch discussions of "more important" matters, notably the eurozone, unrest in the Middle East and particularly Egypt.

"All around the EU governments are cutting deep in their education budgets. This contradicts the Union's efforts to create an EU-wide smart, sustainable and inclusive economy where education is accessible to everyone," said ESU Chair Bert Vandenkendelaere. The organisation brings together 45 national students' unions in 38...