The power of ideas in shaping European education policy: winners and losers of the 'Europe of Knowledge' agenda

Education is one of the institutions of social policy most responsible for the integration of individuals into society. In a time of severe social tensions and disintegration in Europe marked by high levels of inequality, increasing support for populist leaders, the polarizing effects of radicalisation and extremism, and strong views against immigration, education's integrative role cannot be overestimated. So far, the policy agenda adopted by the European Commission in education has been characterized by a policy orientation underpinned by the concept of the 'knowledge economy' that has in turn shaped Member States' interests in cooperation at the European level (Ertl, 2006). Prominent in this conceptualization is the utilitarian view of education as a tool to improve economic growth and as a solution to Europe's lack of competitiveness (Garben, 2012). Against this background and within the current challenging policy context, there is the risk of overlooking other equally plausible purposes of education, such as education to ensure equality of opportunities to all citizens, promote personal development and democratic values, and improve social inclusion (Trowler, 2003).
Although several studies have raised concerns about the implications of the economic orientation of the European education agenda and on the winners of the 'knowledge economy' - a highly skilled and mobile workforce committed to generating economic growth (Verger et al., 2107; Komljenovic and Robertson, 2107) - there has been very limited research on the political-economic causes of this policy orientation. Hence, this research project aims to make a timely and urgent contribution to a field vital for the future of Europe.
In order to understand how a particular policy orientation of education emerged, this research builds an original three-stage analytical framework to explore how the consensus around specific ideas about the goals of European education policy was formed, and to identify which powers and interests were at stake. The framework highlights the trajectory through which specific ideas emerge, impact in the political landscape, and become embedded in institutions. It stresses the importance of factors such as the role of individual ideational leadership in triggering policy change, the use of the rhetorical strategies in the policy discourse, and the polysemantic attribute of specific ideas - as in this case the idea of the 'knowledge economy' - of acting as 'coalition magnet', namely their ability to possess several meanings, each of which appeals to the interests or ideals of a particular group that can result in the creation of a supporting coalition (Beland and Cox, 2016). The findings show how a specific problem definition of education as a solution of Europe's lack of competitiveness allowed the European Commission to strategically construct a specific education agenda around the notion of the 'knowledge economy' which also reflected the preferences of powerful economic actors within the European Union, with a marginal role of European trade unions and teachers' associations within this policy process.
Building on these findings, this research project brings a distinctive contribution to the field of European studies and to the literature on ideas, as it offers new insights on the conditions under which a problem definition can legitimise actors' power and the development of institutions. At the same time, by addressing the role of ideas in European education policy, this study elucidates how problems are constructed and deconstructed, and how they trigger specific consequences and policy choices. Hence, the findings will provide valuable information to European policy-makers and stakeholders in raising awareness on the potential implications of the elevation of the economic purposes of education over the social ones at a time of growing social tensions and political uncertainties for the European project.