VASSILIOU TO FIGHT FOR MORE GENEROUS EDUCATION BUDGET.

• Position: Androulla Vassiliou

Androulla Vassiliou's first priority as education commissioner - if she gets the post - will be to try to match education and skills to employers' needs, she told MEPs, on 14 January, to better target the jobs crisis. "The times have passed when low-skilled people could find work," Vassiliou warned deputies in the Education and Employment Committees. "Those who have been worst hit by this crisis have been young people and the less-skilled ones." Answering calls for more money for education and training, she said, "Of course I am committed to doing my best to increasing the budget. I will really fight for more budget in education and training, but it's not just up to me." Limited by the fact that education is a national competence, she said she would push for higher spending by local and regional authorities and the business community in the areas of technology and science. "My conviction is that we must invest carefully in key areas to have a lasting effect on the lives of all Europeans, today and tomorrow."

Her...