LONDON The European Commission is drawing up plans to make study of the European Union part of the curriculum in schools across the bloc, British media reported on Monday.
The Times newspaper said the commission had listed more than 100 proposals in which EU taxpayers' money could be spent to improve input from Brussels into education and training in all 15 EU member states.
The proposals call for a "European dimension" in the schooling of all pupils and may include the creation of an EU- approved cartoon strip to teach younger children about the bloc.
The Sun tabloid newspaper well-known for its opposition to Britain joining the single European currency and its skepticism about closer EU cooperation said the plans were to "brainwash" British schoolchildren about the EU.
Britain's opposition conservatives, who broadly oppose faster European integration, immediately condemned the proposals.
Francis Maude, the party's spokesman on foreign affairs, told The Times the list was the "first step to creating a single EU curriculum" .
Maude also told the Financial Times newspaper: "This amounts to a Brussels shopping list designed to spread its power into our schools." Media reports said the list of proposals also included plans for a European youth policy and analysis of the cultural, socioeconomic and political elements of the bloc which should be included in school lessons.
(Reuter)