The Bureau of the Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU) met on 17 December 2025 in Strasbourg to advance work on several priority areas shaping the Council of Europe’s education agenda.

During the meeting, the Bureau examined the revised draft Recommendation on history education in the digital age, together with its draft explanatory report, and provided guidance for their submission to the CDEDU Plenary Session in March 2026, with a view to eventual transmission to the Committee of Ministers.

The Bureau also took stock of progress towards a new legal instrument on the automatic recognition of higher education qualifications, noting the comments received from member states and the outcomes of the Ad Hoc Working Group meeting held on 8 December 2025. The Information Note on the Drafting of a Convention on the conditions of transparency and quality assurance for automatic recognition of qualifications is scheduled for examination by the Committee of Ministers in January 2026.

Further discussions focused on the Draft Recommendation on AI literacy, where the Bureau reviewed the revised version and agreed on further consultations with the CDEDU delegations. ahead of the next Plenary Session.

The Bureau endorsed the updated draft of the European Space for Citizenship Education, welcoming improvements to its quality framework and supporting the proposal to establish a dedicated voluntary-funded project for the period 2027–2030 to support its implementation.

In addition, the Bureau considered the outline of a forthcoming Committee of Ministers Recommendation on developing a culture of democracy in vocational education and training, providing guidance for the next drafting phase.

The meeting concluded with a review of the draft agenda for the 9th CDEDU Plenary Session (18–20 March 2026) and confirmation of proposed dates for CDEDU statutory meetings in 2026.