4.6.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 145/227 REGULATION (EC) No 452/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, After consultation of the European Economic and Social Committee, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: (1)  The Council Resolution of 5 December 1994 on the pro- motion of education and training statistics in the European Union (2) requested the Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States, to expedite the development of education and training statistics. (2)  TheEuropean Council held in Brussels on 22 and 23 March 2005 agreed to relaunch the Lisbon Strategy. It concluded that Europe must renew the basis of its competitiveness, increase its growth potential and its productivity and strengthen social cohesion, placing the main emphasis on knowledge, innovation and the optimisation of human capital. In that respect, the employability, adaptability and mobility of citizens is vital for Europe. (3)  To attain these objectives, European systems of education and training must adapt to the requirements of the knowl- edge society and the need for an enhanced level of educa- tion and better quality employment. Statistics on education, training and lifelong learning are of the highest importance as a basis for political decisions. (4)  Lifelong learning is a key element in developing and pro- moting a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce. In (1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 September 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 14 February 2008. () O] C 374,30.12.1994, p. 4. the Presidency Conclusions of the Spring 2005 European Council it was stressed that ‘human capital is Europe’s most important asset’. The Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs including the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, endorsed by the Council in its Deci- sion 2005/600/EC (?), aim to contribute better to the Lis- bon strategy and to establish comprehensive lifelong learning strategies. (5)  The adoption in February 2001 of the Council Report ‘Objectives of the education and training systems’ and the adoption in February 2002 of the work programme for 2001-2011 on the follow-up to this report constitute an important step in honouring the commitment to modern- ise and improve the quality of the education and training systems of the Member States. Indicators and reference lev- els of European average performance (‘benchmarks’) are amonyg the instruments of the open method of coordina- tion which are important for the ‘Education and Training 2010’ work programme. The Ministers of Education took a decisive step in May 2003 by agreeing on five European benchmarks to be attained by 2010, while stressing they do not define national targets or prescribe decisions to be taken by national governments. (6)  On 24 May 2005, the Council adopted Conclusions on ‘New indicators in education and training’ (4). In these Con- clusions the Council invited the Commission to present to the Council strategies and proposals for the development of new indicators in nine particular areas of education and training and also stressed that the development of new indicators should fully respect the responsibility of Mem- ber States for the organisation of their education systems and should not impose undue administrative or financial burdens on the organisation and institutions concerned, or inevitably lead to an increased number of indicators used to monitor progress. (7) The Council also adopted, in November 2004, Conclu- sions on European cooperation in vocational education and training, and agreed that priority should be given at European level to ‘the improvement of the scope, precision and reliability of vocational education and training statis- tics in order to enable evaluation of progress’. () OJ L 205, 6.8.2005, p. 21. () OJ C 141, 10.6.2005, p. 7.