Chairperson of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget Mr Aleksandar Damjanović MA and Chairperson of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports Ms Branka Tanasijević MA participated in the Meeting of Chairpersons of Communications, Education and Transport Committees of the EU Member States and the European Parliament.

The focus of the meeting was revision of the educational process in a digital age, contemporary transport systems and “Digital Agenda” as well.

The first session was chaired by Mr Jan Truszczynski, Director General for Education, Training, Culture and Youth of the European Commission and Mr Ruairi Quinn, Irish Minister for Education and Skills. The significance of information technologies for education was emphasised as well as spreading of digitalisation in the educational system, digital networking of schools and creation of “alliances of knowledge” between educational institutions and entrepreneurs. During the debate, the word was about specific experiences of certain EU Member States, and it was concluded that the EU would strongly support Members States in implementation of the digital agenda, with an emphasis that spreading new technologies was not the aim by itself but an additional mean for improving knowledge both of teachers and students.

The second session was chaired by Mr Olivier Onidi, Director of Innovative and Sustainable Mobility at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Mobility and Transport, Mr Gerry Murphy, Executive Director of the National Transport Authority and Mr Brian Brennan, director of the Transdev, Ireland. During the session, it was talked about the Action Plan as well as directive dealing with advanced transport systems as key framework in the concerned area. In addition, the significance of the advanced transport systems was emphasised in view of the increase of security in traffic, i.e. decrease in the number of victims: positive influence to decrease of budget expenditures and less energy consumption. The progress achieved by Ireland in this field was presented.

The third and last session was chaired by Mr Robert Madelin, Director General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Lord David Puttnam, Ireland’s Digital Champion. The significance of the “Digital Agenda” was emphasised. It contains 101 measures, grouped in seven key areas. The Agenda was adopted in 2010, with the aim of strengthening economy in Europe, by using advantages of digital technologies in view of increase of employment and primarily support to the sectors of education of small and middle business. Montenegrin representatives participated actively during the session, expressing gratitude to the European Commission for the support in the digitalisation process in Montenegro.

The meeting was organised within parliamentary dimension of the Irish half-year presidency over the European Union Council, in Dublin, on 16 and 17 June 2013.