The Education, Youth and Culture (EYC) Council brings together education, culture, youth and communication ministers three or four times a year to deal with matters such as the mutual recognition of degrees and diplomas, the health and welfare of young people and support for the film industry. During the Spanish presidency, depending on the agenda, the Minster of Education, Ángel Gabilondo, the Minister of Culture, Ángeles González-Sinde, or the Housing Minister, Beatriz Corredor, will preside over the EYC Council.

On 12, 13 and 14 April an informal meeting of education and culture ministers will take place in Madrid. Informal meetings are held in the country that holds the presidency and no decisions are made at them; they enable ministers to discuss current issues in an informal way.
 

The mission of the EU is to contribute to the development of quality education and the flourishing of Member States' cultures, while fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States for defining the content of syllabuses, as well as their national and regional cultural diversity.

To achieve these objectives, the Union establishes a framework for cooperation between Member States that allows information and experiences to be exchanged on matters of mutual interest. In the fields in which the EU has the power to legislate, such as, for example, in matters related to the audiovisual industry and the mutual recognition of diplomas and degrees, the Council adopts standards by qualified majority and in codecision with the European Parliament, except in the field of culture, in which it does so by unanimity and only to support or complement national policies, excluding any harmonisation measures. This format of the Council has ten working groups divided up by subject areas and comprising senior officials from Member States, who prepare the dossiers before sending them to Coreper (ambassador level) and finally to the ministers.

The Union supplements the actions of Member States in the fields of education and culture by means of support programmes, with a view to contributing to the learning and dissemination of languages, safeguarding European cultural heritage, encouraging the mobility of students and teachers, promoting the mutual recognition of diplomas and degrees, promoting cooperation between educational and training establishments, improving initial vocational training and stimulating artistic and literary creation, including in the audiovisual sector.