Just uploaded the "European Reference Framework: Key Competences for Lifelong Learning". European Commission and States in this document set out the skills and competences which Europeans are expected to acquire in order to cope with globalisation.

www.discuss-community.eu/library.html

"According to the EC policy document, European citizens are expected to increase their "basic skills" in the fields of literacy, mathematics, science and technology. However, those skills are understood in a quite broad sense. For example, literacy can mean basic cultural techniques, such as reading or writing. But, it becomes increasingly associated with various everday practices, such as management of one's own finances, which is reflected in the term "financial literacy"... " See Randolph's full remark further below.