Four European citizens out of every 10 aged between 25 and 64 participate each year in a professional training course. According to the Eurostat data that refer to 2003 and define as “learning activities” university courses, vocational and language courses, the reading of books and manuals and the use of the mass media for educational purposes Austria (89%), Luxembourg (82%), Slovenia (82%) and Denmark (80%) head the special league table. At the tail end are Hungary (12%), Greece (17%), Spain (25%) and Lithuania (28%). The percentage of women (41%) and men (43%) who take a training course is very similar, despite the fact that the women of Northern Europe are considerably more “active” than women in the South. With the exception of Spain and Luxembourg, it is in the main those already in employment who benefit from professional training in EU countries, while the difficulties of the unemployed to follow training activities that are often too demanding unfortunately persists. For further information, consult the website www.europa.eu.int/eurostat
