24.12.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 348/115 DECISION No 1350/2008/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 December 2008 concerning the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (2009) (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 149 and 150 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (?), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1) Europe needs to strengthen its capacity for creativity and innovation for social and economic reasons in order to respond effectively to the development of the knowledge society: innovative capacity is closely linked with crea- tivity as a personal attribute, and to be harnessed to full advantage it needs to be widely disseminated throughout the population. This requires an approach based on lifelong learning. (2)  Education and training systems should cater sufficiently and at all appropriate levels for the development of key competences to support creativity and innovation, with a view to finding innovative and original solutions in personal, occupational and social life. (3)  The Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 concluded that ‘a European framework should define the new basic skills to be provided through lifelong learning’ as a key measure in Europe’s response to ‘globalisation and the shift to knowledge-based economies’, and emphasised that ‘people are Europe’s main asset’. (!) Opinion of 9 July 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 257, 9.10.2008, p. 46. (}) Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 September 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 20 November 2008. S () 0) 0] 0 The Commission Communication of 21 November 2001 entitled ‘Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality’ and the subsequent Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 on lifelong learning (*) identified the provision of ‘the new basic skills' as a priority and stressed that ‘lifelong learning must cover learning from pre-school age to that of post-retirement’. Recommendation  2006/962/EC  of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning (°) identified various key competences, in particular, ‘mathematical competence and basic competences in science and tech- nology’, ‘learning to learn’, ‘digital competence’, a ‘sense of initiative and entrepreneurship’, ‘cultural awareness and expression’ and ‘social and civic competences'. The Brussels European Council of 8 and 9 March 2007 noted that education and training are prerequisites for a well-functioning knowledge triangle (education-research- innovation) and play a key role in boosting growth and jobs. It called for particular attention to be given to stimulating the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises, including those in the cultural and creative sectors, in view of their role as drivers of growth, job creation and innovation. Declaring a European Year of Creativity and Innovation is an effective way of helping to meet the challenges facing Europe by raising public awareness, disseminating infor- mation about good practices and promoting research and policy debate. By creating an environment for simulta- neously promoting these objectives at European, national, regional and local levels, it can achieve greater synergy and critical mass than disparate efforts at different levels. As the promotion of creativity and of a capacity for innovation through lifelong learning falls within the objectives of existing Community programmes, such a Year can be implemented by using those programmes within the existing margins which they provide for setting funding priorities on an annual or multi-annual basis; programmes and policies in other fields, such as culture, communication, enterprise, cohesion, rural devel- opment, research and the information society, also contribute to promoting creativity and a capacity for innovation and may support the initiative within their respective legal frameworks. C 163, 9.7.2002, p. 1. L 394, 30.12.2006, p. 10.