The education pillar of the Europe 2020 strategy: a convergence analysis

In March 2010, the European Commission launched the Europe 2020 strategy ‘for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ in the EU. Education is a major pillar of the Europe 2020 strategy due to its long-run impact on economic growth, productivity, and social cohesion. The Europe 2020 strategy established two headline targets on early leavers from education and training and tertiary educational attainment at the EU level. This paper attempts to assess the Europe 2020 strategy for the education pillar in terms of convergence across countries. Despite the fact that every country in the EU has its own national targets in these two headline indicators, progress on the achievement of the Europe 2020 strategy requires convergence. Thus, even if the EU as a whole meets its targets in 2020, the existence of a growing divide between the best and worst performing countries would cast doubt on the prospects of real economic convergence and the sustainability of the process. Our empirical findings reveal the existence of convergence clubs in educational attainment and the early leavers rate, and points towards the idea of multi-speed transitional dynamics in Europe, calling into question the convergence in educational performance in the EU.